MYRTILLA    MINER 


^  ^cmoxr 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

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y 


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c./^^^^-^^^^    ^<^^^^^:^<2- 


MYRTILLA  MINER 


%  Ht^nnoir 


BOSTON  AND    NEW  YORK 
HOUGHTON,  MIFFLIN  AND  COMPANY 

Zbe  timieibt  Prr00",  CamfariDgr 


Copyright,  1885, 

Bv  ELLEN  M.  O'CONNOR, 

Secretary  of  the  Institution  for  the  Education  of 

Colored  Youth. 

All  rights  reserved. 


The  Riverside  Press,  CaTtibridge : 
Electrotyped  and  Printed  by  H.  O.  Houghton  &  Co. 


LC 

26 


JZ&o  Cj 


To 
THE  PUPILS  OF  MVRTILLA  MIXER 

AND 

THE  ALUMNI  OF  THE  MINER  NORMAL  SCHOOL 
<Ct)U  XUrmoir  of  ttnr  ^rncfdctrri^ 

IS 

AFFECTIONATELY   INSCRIBED. 


PREFACE. 


HIS  little  volume  is  made  up,  as 
will  be  seen,  of  contributions  from 
the  friends  of  Miss  Miner,  giving 
such  reminiscences  as  they  could  furnish  ; 
and  from  her  own  letters  to  various  persons 
at  different  periods  of  her  life  ;  also,  from 
records  in  possession  of  the  present  Trus- 
tees of  the  Miner  Fund.  It  is  a  source  of 
disappointment  that  no  letters  have  been 
found  covering  the  period  which  she  spent 
in  Mississippi,  as  the  experience  of  life  in 
a  slave  State  led  to  her  coming  to  Wash- 
ington to  perform  the  work  which  these 
pages  commemorate  ;  but  all  efforts  to 
procure  such  letters,  if  any  are  extant,  have 
been  unavailing. 

The  thanks  of  the   editor  are  due,  and 
are  gratefully  expressed,  to  all  who  have  in 


vi  Preface. 

any  manner  aided  in  the  preparation  of  this 
memoir. 

Much  regret  is  felt,  that  it  is  impossible, 
at  this  date,  to  name  all  who  in  those 
early  days  helped  to  sustain  and  encour- 
age Miss  Miner,  whether  by  sums  of  money, 
or  by  sweet  and  needed  sympathy. 

Ellen  M.  O'Connor. 

Washington,  D.  C, 
November,  1885. 


CONTENTS. 
— • — 

PAGE 

I.    Birth,  Education,  Preparation  for 

her  work p 

II.    Raising  Funds  to  start  the  School     19 

III.  Founding  the  School      .     ...     29 

IV.  The  Pro-Slavery  Opposition  to  the 

School cr 

V.    History  of  the  School     .     ...    80 

VI.    Personal  Traits.  —  Close  of  a  No- 
ble Life   J09 


MEMOIR   OF   MYRTILLA   MINER. 


I. 

Birth,  Education,  Preparation  for  her  Work. 

YRTILLA  MINER  was  born  on 
the  4th  of  March,  1815,  in  Brook- 
^  field,  Madison  County,  New  York. 
Her  father  was  a  native  of  Norwich,  Con- 
necticut, and  removed  with  his  parents 
and  brothers  and  sisters  to  Brookfield, 
when  the  country  in  which  it  is  situated 
was  little  more  than  an  unbroken  wilder- 
ness. Here  the  family  was  subjected  to 
all  the  privations  incident  to  the  lot  of 
early  settlers.  They  grew  up  strong  men 
and  women,  with  Httle  education  from 
schools,  but  with  habits  of  industry  and 
economy,  which  were  transmitted  to  their 
children,  accompanied  by  principles  of  high 


in  Memoir  of  MyrtiUa  Miner. 

moral  integrity  and  deep  rdiKioiis  rever- 
ence. 

Miss  Miner's  father  was  a  rr)aii  ol  mir  om- 
mon  natural  ability,  but,  from  his  narrow 
training;,  ref^arrlcd  m'-ntal  culture,  beyond 
a  certain  limit,  a;',  siipcrfiiion.'i  ;i,nrl  unnec- 
essary. And  so  it  was  that  his  V.wyy.  fatnily 
were  sent  to  school  for  a  few  years  oidy, 
acquiring  readily  the  rudiments  of  an  edu- 
cation ;  but  they  could  go  no  further, 

Myrtilla  was  a  bright  child,  of  riclicatc 
organization.  She  longed  to  study  far  be- 
yond the  limited  range  afforded  by  the 
district  school,  and  thus  to  fit  herself  for 
something  more  congenial  than  the  hum- 
ble sphere  of  dutici  in  the  householfi  and 
on  the  farm.  She  horrowf:d  bor;ks  when- 
ever she  could  do  .ho.  She  read  cverytliing 
that  she  could  find,  and  profited  by  her 
reading,  yet  her  cravings  were  not  satisfied, 
Opportuniticu  were  rare  in  that  remote 
rural  neighborhood  for  earning  money, 
and  in  the  hop-picking  season  she  eagerly 
joined  the  ranks  of  the  hop-pickcr«,  that 


Eiiuciition.  ii 

she  tnij;ht  earn  a  few  dollars,  to  be  spent 
in  books  and  other  educational  facilities. 
Sometimes  she  did  this  when  very  weak 
in  body,  since  she  was  never  strong,  but 
her  indomitable  will  kept  her  up.  She 
once  earned  seventeen  dollars  in  this  way, 
when  every  basket  she  filled  with  the  fra- 
grant hops  was  attended  with  unutterable 
weariness  and  pain  ;  but  so  considerable 
a  sum  couKl  be  earned  by  her  in  no  other 
way,  ami  wiih  it  she  might  do  so  much  to 
further  the  object  on  the  realization  of 
which  her  soul  was  ti.xed. 

Determineil  to  burst  the  bonds  of  cir- 
cumstance which  held  her  fast,  she  reached 
out  in  many  directions  for  help  and  coun- 
sel. Once  she  wrote  to  Hon.  William  H. 
Seward,  then  Governor  of  the  State  of  New 
York,  asking  him  if  he  could  show  her 
some  way  in  which  a  girl  in  her  circum- 
stances might  acquire  a  liberal  education. 

The  Cuivernor's  replv,  however,  and  j^er- 
haps  inevitably  and  unavoidably,  was  vague 
and  uns.it isfactory  :  as  in  those  days  the 


!2  Memoir  of  Myrtilla  Miner. 

rich  endowments  and  other  provisions  for 
the  education  of  women  which  at  present 
ennoble  and  adorn  the  Empire  State  had 
no  existence. 

So  she  struggled  or>.    She  began  to  teach 
when  fifteen  years  of  age,  and  was  an  en- 
thusiastic teacher,  but,  at  the  same  time, 
she  deeply  felt  the  need  of  being  herself 
taught.      Soon    she   began  to  suffer  from 
spinal    irritation,  and  was   obliged  to  rest 
from  her  labors  as  a  teacher.    In  the  mean 
time  she  determined  to  go  to  school.     She 
applied  to  the  principal  of  a  school  in  Clin- 
ton, Oneida  County,  New  York,  for  admis- 
sion, for  one  year,  on  the  condition  that  he 
should  wait  for  the  payment  of  her  board 
and  tuition  until  she  should  be  able  to  earn 
it  by  teaching.     It  was,  indeed,  pathetic  to 
see  this   young,   frail    girl,  with  her  pale 
face  and  lustrous  eyes,  pleading  for  an  en- 
trance to  the  halls  of  learning ;  and  per- 
haps it  was  the  consciousness  of  this  that 
influenced  Mr.  B.  to  accept  her  conditions. 
He  saw  that  she  had  energy  and  determi- 


Seeking  Education.  i) 

nation,  and  decided  to  receive  her  on  the 
terms  she  proposed.  For  a  little  time  she 
forgot  the  symptoms  heralding  another  at- 
tack of  spinal  suffering  in  the  joy  of  being 
where  the  thirst  for  knowledge  might  be 
satisfied,  and  where  she  could  breathe  a 
more  genial,  social  atmosphere. 

But  soon  the  dreaded  disease  again  came 
upon  her,  and  she  was  confined  to  her  bed. 
The  medical  treatment  of  that  time  was 
of  the  heroic  kind.  Setons  were  inserted 
along  the  spine,  with  all  the  attendant 
physical  agony;  yet,  through  all  her  suf- 
ferings, this  indomitable  girl  had  her  books 
brought  to  her,  and  learned  the  lessons  for 
each  day,  thus  keeping  pace  with  the  oth- 
ers in  her  class.  As  soon  as  well  enough 
she  was  helped  to  the  recitation  -  room, 
where,  in  a  nearly  recumbent  position,  she 
received  the  instruction  of  her  teachers. 

That  the  year  in  this  school  was  of 
great  advantage  to  her,  even  under  all 
these  adverse  circumstances,  may  be  in- 
ferred from  the  fact   that  she  soon   after 


14  Memoir  of  Myriilla  Miner. 

received  an  appointment  as  teacher  in  one 
of  the  pubUc  schools  of  Rochester,  New 
York,  and  soon  was  called  to  a  similar 
position  in  Providence,  Rhode  Island,  per- 
forming her  duties  acceptably  to  the  board 
of  trustees  in  each  of  those  cities.  Teach- 
ing was  at  that  time  the  only  field  of  em- 
ployment open  to  a  woman  with  her  aspi- 
rations, and  when  a  proposition  was  made 
to  her  to  go  to  Mississippi  for  that  pur- 
pose the  offer  was  gladly  accepted. 

Now  came  a  difficulty.  She  must  have 
suitable  clothing  for  the  journey,  and  she 
had  no  money.  She  was  a  second  time 
compelled  to  pledge  her  future  earnings 
to  obtain  what  was  absolutely  necessary 
for  this  purpose,  and  was  all  ready  to  leave 
for  Mississippi  when  word  came  that  the 
school  would  not  open. 

This  left  her  in  a  very  perplexing  posi- 
tion, but  she  met  the  exigency  with  her 
customary  courage  and  integrity.  Having 
no  immediate  prospect  of  employment,  she 
went  to  the  merchants  who  had  sold  her 


Going  to  Mississippi.  /5 

goods  on  credit,  and,  telling  her  story,  pre- 
vailed on  them  to  take  back  every  article 
that  could  be  returned. 

For  a  year  after  this  she  was  without 
employment  as  a  teacher,  but,  amid  much 
discouragement,  she  plodded  bravely  along, 
and  her  good  pluck  was  at  last  rewarded 
by  another  call  from  the  South.  This  time 
she  was  not  disappointed. 

She  went  to  Mississippi  to  teach  in  an 
institution  for  the  education  of  planters' 
daughters,  situated  in  Whitesville,  Wilkin- 
son County,  and  called  the  Newton  Insti- 
tute. This  engagement  brought  her  for  the 
first  time  into  actual  contact  with  negro 
slavery. 

When  she  so  eagerly  accepted  the  offer 
of  a  chance  to  earn  an  independent  living 
in  a  milder  climate  and  in  a  congenial  field 
of  labor,  she  had  not  dreamed  of  reform, 
nor  of  any  philanthropic  scheme  whatever. 
But  now  the  horrors  of  the  slave  system 
were  suddenly  revealed  to  her  on  the  spot, 
through  her  own  senses,  by  evidence  that 


1 6  Memoir  of  Myrtilla  Miner. 

could  not  be  denied  or  concealed.  The 
sound  of  the  lash  was  wafted  to  her  ears  in 
the  dim  watches  of  the  night.  The  slaves 
herded  and  fed  like  beasts,  steeped  in  sen- 
suality, subjected  to  the  unrestrained  pas- 
sions of  brutal  masters,  —  all  this  was 
exposed  to  her  view  in  its  startling  hideous- 
ness.  The  effect  of  it  upon  this  highly  sen- 
sitive nature,  with  the  moral  and  humane 
sentiments  so  largely  developed,  may  be 
easily  imagined.  It  determined  her  life- 
work.  She  felt  that  she  must  do  some- 
thing to  help  destroy  this  monster.  But 
how  to  begin }  At  first,  some  Quixotic 
plan  to  free  the  slaves  at  one  blow  was 
conceived  by  her,  and  she  corresponded 
with  an  Anti-Slavery  friend  at  the  North 
on  the  subject,  but  of  course  nothing 
came  of  it. 

Then  her  mind  was  directed  to  the  idea 
that  the  slaves  must  be  educated.  With 
great  boldness,  as  well  as  innocence,  she 
asked  the  planter,  whose  daughters  she 
was  instructing,   permission  to  teach   the 


In  Mississippi.  ly 

slaves  on  his  plantation,  not  knowing  that 
it  was  a  criminal  offense,  by  the  laws  of 
Mississippi,  to  teach  a  slave  to  read.  She 
was,  of  course,  told  that  she  could  not  be 
allowed  to  do  this,  and  the  legal  reasons 
were  explained  to  her.  The  planter  added, 
also,  the  retort,  "  Why  don't  you  go  North 
and  teach  the  'niggers,'  if  you  are  so  anx- 
ious to  do  it  ?  "  She  then  resolved  that  she 
would  go  North  and  teach  them,  and  every 
day  that  purpose  was  strengthened. 

Her  stay  in  Mississippi  lasted  two  years. 
During  this  time  she  protested  against 
some  of  the  cruelties  of  the  slave  system 
that  came  under  her  own  observation,  but 
of  course  only  succeeded  in  having  them 
removed  farther  from  her  reach.  That, 
under  these  circumstances,  she  should  have 
been  retained  so  long  in  the  South  shows 
how  much  she  was  valued  as  a  teacher. 
At  last,  the  combined  moral,  mental,  and 
physical  strain  was  too  much.  Her  health 
utterly  gave  way,  and  she  was  sent  home, 
apparently  to  die.     It  was  during  this  ill- 


1 8  Memoir  of  Myrtilla  Miner. 

ness  that  she  made  a  solemn  pledge  to 
herself  that  if  she  recovered  she  would 
devote  the  remainder  of  her  life  to  the 
elevation  and  welfare  of  the  enslaved  race. 
This  pledge  she  literally  fulfilled,  and  now 
it  was  that  her  true  career  opened  unex- 
pectedly before  her.  The  outcome  of  all 
her  anxious  thought  upon  the  subject  was, 
at  last,  the  determination  to  found  a  nor- 
mal school  for  colored  girls  in  the  city  of 
Washington,  This  plan  met  the  approval 
of  the  friend  to  whom  her  former  Quixotic 
scheme  had  been  confided,  and  she  started 
out  to  secure  funds  for  its  realization. 


II. 

Raising  Funds  to  Start  the  School. 


T  is  a  thankless  and  disagreeable 
task  to  solicit  funds  for  even  the 
most  popular  and  cherished  objects. 
We  can  imagine,  then,  the  discouragements 
which  must  have  beset  the  path  of  this 
woman  as  she  pleaded  in  aid  of  a  project 
to  which  a  vast  majority  of  her  countrymen 
were  bitterly  hostile,  and  which  many,  if 
not  most,  of  the  friends  of  the  slave  re- 
garded as  foolhardy  and  useless.  To  attack 
the  slave  power  on  slave  soil  had  come  to 
be  regarded  as  futile,  as  well  as  dangerous 
in  the  extreme.  Garrison  had  tried  the 
experiment  in  Baltimore,  and  it  ended  in  an 
imprisonment,  from  which  he  was  with 
difficulty  extricated.  Miss  Miner's  plan 
was,  really,  to  sap  the  slave  power  by  edu- 


20  Metnoir  of  Myrtilla  Miner. 

eating  its  victims,  for  the  free  blacks  were 
crushed  under  its  remorseless  heel  almost 
as  much  as  if  actually  slaves  themselves. 
So  devoted  a  champion  of  his  race  as 
Frederick  Douglass  tells  in  the  following 
letter  to  a  trustee  of  the  Miner  School, 
with  admirable  candor,  how  he  tried,  in 
vain,  to  dissuade  her  from  her  under- 
taking :  — 

"  You  have  often  urged  me  to  tell  you 
the  little  (and  it  is  but  little)  I  remember 
of  Miss  Myrtilla  Miner,  the  founder  of  what 
is  now  the  Normal  School  for  Colored  Girls 
in  the  city  of  Washington.  The  task  is,  in 
every  sense,  an  agreeable  one. 

"If  we  owe  it  to  the  generations  that  go 
before  us,  and  to  those  which  come  after 
us,  to  make  some  record  of  the  good  deeds 
we  have  met  with  in  our  journey  through 
life,  and  to  perpetuate  the  memory  and  ex- 
ample of  those  who  have  in  a  signal  man- 
ner made  themselves  serviceable  to  suffer- 
ing humanity,  we  certainly  should  not 
forget  the  brave  little  woman  who  first  in- 


Raising  Funds  to  Start  the  School.     21 

vaded  the  city  of  Washington,  to  establish 
here  a  school  for  the  education  of  a  class 
long  despised  and  neglected. 

"As  I  look  back  to  the  moral  surround- 
ings of  the  time  and  place  when  that  school 
was  begun,  and  the  state  of  public  senti- 
ment which  then  existed  in  the  North  as 
well  as  in  the  South  ;  when  I  remember 
how  low  the  estimation  in  which  colored 
people  were  then  held,  how  little  sympathy- 
there  was  with  any  effort  to  dispel  their 
ignorance,  diminish  their  hardships,  allevi- 
ate their  suffering,  or  soften  their  misfor- 
tunes, I  marvel  all  the  more  at  the  thought, 
the  zeal,  the  faith,  and  the  courage  of 
Myrtilla  Miner  in  daring  to  be  the  pioneer 
of  such  a  movement  for  education  here,  in 
the  District  of  Columbia,  the  very  citadel 
of  slavery,  the  place  most  zealously  watched 
and  guarded  by  the  slave  power,  and  where 
humane  tendencies  were  most  speedily  de- 
tected and  sternly  opposed. 

"  It  is  now  more  than  thirty  years  (but 
such  have  been  the  changes  wrought  that 


22  Memoir  of  Myrtilla  Miner. 

it  seems  a  century)  since  Miss  Miner,  in 
company  with  Joseph  and  Phebe  Hatha- 
way (brother  and  sister),  called  upon  me  at 
my  printing-office  in  Rochester,  New  York, 
and  found  me  at  work,  busily  mailing  my 
paper,  the  '  North  Star.'  It  was  my  cus- 
tom to  continue  my  work,  no  matter  who 
came,  and  hence  I  barely  looked  up  to  give 
them  welcome,  supposing  the  call  to  be  an 
ordinary  one,  perhaps  of  sympathy  with 
my  work,  or,  more  likely,  an  act  of  mere 
curiosity,  and  continued.  I  was  not  long 
permitted,  however,  to  treat  my  callers  in 
this  unceremonious  way.  I  soon  found  I 
was  in  a  presence  that  demanded  my  whole 
attention.  A  slender,  wiry,  pale  (not  over- 
healthy),  but  singularly  animated  figure 
was  before  me,  and  startled  me  with  the 
announcement  that  she  was  then  on  her 
way  to  the  city  of  Washington  to  estab- 
lish a  school  for  the  education  of  colored 
girls.  I  stopped  maihng  my  paper  at  once, 
and  gave  attention  to  what  was  said.  I 
was  amazed,  and  looked  to  see  if  the  lady 
was  in  earnest  and  meant  what  she  said. 


Raising  Funds  to  Start  the  School.     2j 

"The  doubt  in  my  mind  was  transient.  I 
saw  at  a  glance  that  the  fire  of  a  real  en- 
thusiasm lighted  her  eyes,  and  the  true 
martyr  spirit  flamed  in  her  soul.  My  feel- 
ings were  those  of  mingled  joy  and  sadness. 
Here,  I  thought,  is  another  enterprise, 
wild,  dangerous,  desperate,  and  impracti- 
cable, destined  only  to  bring  failure  and 
suffering.  Yet  I  was  deeply  moved  with 
admiration  by  the  heroic  purpose  of  the 
delicate  and  fragile  person  who  stood,  or 
rather  moved,  to  and  fro  before  me,  for  she 
would  not  accept  a  chair. 

"  She  seemed  too  full  of  her  enterprise  to 
think  of  her  own  ease,  and  hence  kept  in 
motion  all  the  time  she  was  in  my  office. 
Mr.  and  Miss  Hathaway  remained  silent. 
Miss  Miner  and  myself  did  the  talking. 
She  advocated  the  feasibility  of  her  enter- 
prise, and  I  (timid  and  faithless)  opposed 
in  all  earnestness.  She  said  she  knew  the 
South ;  she  had  lived  among  slave-hold- 
ers ;  she  had  even  taught  slaves  to  read  in 
Mississippi ;  and  she  was  not  afraid  of  vio- 


3^  \ktthm  (*f  f^yrfilU  Mm«T. 

lencc  in  the  District  of  Columbia.  I  o  mo. 
the  proposition  was  reckless,  5\lmost  to  the 
point  of  madness.  In  my  fancy,  1  saw  this 
fragile  little  woman  harasseil  by  the  law, 
insulted  in  the  strvjet,  a  victim  «.vf  slave- 
holding;  malice,  and.  possibly,  K^aten  down 
by  the  mob.  The  t.itc  of  Prudence  Cran- 
dall  in  Connecticut  and  the  then  recent 
case  of  Mrs.  Douglass  at  Norfolk  were  be- 
fore me ;  also  my  own  experience  in  at- 
tempting to  teach  a  Sunday-school  in  St. 
Michael's:  and  I  drc.ulcd  the  experience 
which,  1  feared,  awaited  Miss  ^lincr. 

*'  My  argmnent  made  no  impression  upon 
the  heroic  spirit  before  me.  Her  resolu- 
tion was  taken,  and  was  not  to  bo  shaken 
or  changed. 

"The  result.  1  need  not  s.iy.  h.is  justilicd 
her  determination. 

"I  never  pass  by  the  IMincr  Normal  School 
for  Colored  Cirls  in  this  oitv  without  a  feel- 
ii\g  of  .soU-repro.uh  that  I  could  h.ive  said 
aught  to  4UciK-h  the  .o.il.  sh.\ko  the  i.iith, 
and  ipiail  the  cour.ige  ol  the  i\oMe  woman 


Raising  Hunds  to  Start  the  School.     2^ 

by  whom  it  was  founded,  and  whose  name 
it  bears.  Truly  yours, 

"  fKEDEKicK  Douglass." 

WAS)r).Nf/io.N,  May  4,  iWy" 

The  following  letter,  written  to  a  friend 
in  Smcthport,  Penn.,  about  this  time,  indi- 
cates how  she  was  struggling  to  obtain  the 
means  necessary  to  accomplish  her  mission. 

HaMIKTON,   N.   Y.,   February    15,    185I. 

Dkak  Mrs.  Fokd,  —  ...  Ix-t  me  say 
to  your  good  husband  that  I  hardly  think 
I  shall  ever  need  any  more  certificates  of 
character  or  qualification,  for  I  design 
going  to  the  city  of  Washington,  to  estab- 
lish a  school  for  the  colored  children,  and  I 
can  do  this  without  any  other  certificate 
than  the  one  of  moral  courage  I  carry  in 
my  own  soul.  Still,  if  they  arc  able  in 
Smcthport  to  give  me  something  extra,  in 
the  belief  that  I  did  exert  an  uncommon, 
healthful  influence  upon  their  pupils,  in- 
tellectually, physically,  and  morally,  I  shall 


26  Memoir  of  Myrtilla  Miner. 

cherish  and  be  proud  of  it,  whether  I 
should  ever  find  occasion  to  use  it  or  not. 
In  this  proposed  enterprise  I  should  be 
more  glad  of  contributions  than  anything 
else  ;  for  since  I  must  go  there  a  stranger, 
I  would  gladly  make  my  school  free  for  a 
single  term,  until  I  can  convince  them  that 
I  am  no  humbug.  .  .  . 

M.  Miner. 

The  lady,  Mrs.  Ednah  Thomas,  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Society  of  Friends,  to  whom 
Miss  Miner  had  confided  her  former 
scheme,  wished  her  to  wait  until  such  a 
sum  of  money  could  be  raised  as  would 
make  the  enterprise  a  safe  venture.  But 
she  answered,  "  I  do  not  want  the  wealth 
of  Croesus  in  my  pocket  to  begin  with  ;  " 
and  so,  with  one  hundred  dollars,  which 
Mrs.  Thomas  provided,  she  undauntedly 
began  her  life  work.  She  begged  from 
her  friends  for  the  school,  saying,  "  Give 
me  anything  you  have,  —  paper,  books, 
weights,  measures,  etc.     I  will  make  each 


Raising  Funds  to  Start  the  School.     27 

one  an  object  lesson  for  my  girls,  explain- 
ing its  source,  its  manufacture,  uses,  etc," 

To-day,  we  can  hardly  imagine  what 
such  an  undertaking  as  hers  then  was, 
when  Washington  was  a  stronghold  of  the 
pro-slavery  element. 

Some  recollections  of  her  at  this  time, 
from  an  early  friend  who  was  later  a 
worker  with  her  in  the  school,  may  be 
given  here. 

"  I  think,"  says  the  writer,  ••  that  I  must 
have  been  about  twenty  years  old  when  I 
first  heard  Myrtilla  speak  of  this  plan,  or 
idea  of  hers,  to  go  to  Washington,  to  start 
a  school  for  the  free  colored  people  of  that 
city.  I  regarded  the  scheme  as  a  very 
wild  one,  which  might  do  for  Myrtilla 
Miner,  but  scarcely  for  any  one  else  in  the 
world.  Not  so  my  mother.  I  have  before 
me  now  Miss  ^Miner's  thin  face,  her  pene- 
trating eyes,  her  far-away  look,  as  she  came 
to  my  mother,  very  weary  in  body  and  very 
earnest  in  spirit,  seeking  some  word  of  sym- 
pathy and  encouragement  in  this  proposed 


28  Memoir  of  Myrtilla  Miner. 

undertaking.  It  seemed  a  great  rest  to 
her  spirit  to  find  some  one  who  was  wilHng 
to  talk  with  her,  and  not  oppose  her  pro- 
ject. Under  the  influence  of  this  kindly 
sympathy,  as  she  rested  upon  the  lounge 
in  our  dining-room,  her  whole  frame  seemed 
to  relax,  and  she  looked  younger  and  more 
lovely  than  I  ever  remember  to  have  seen 
her,  before  or  afterwards. 

"  She  was  grateful  for  my  mother's 
words  of  sympathy  and  cheer,  and  her  great 
resolution  was  renewed.  She  would  go  out 
in  the  face  of  all  opposition,  —  she  would 
go  to  Washington  believing  that  she  should 
succeed.  Her  faith  had  triumphed  over 
her  fears,  and  her  soul  was  strengthened." 

We  next  hear  of  her  in  Washington. 


III. 


Founding  the  School. 


OR  the  benefit  of  those  who  have 
only  known  Washington  such  as  it 
has  become  since  the  great  civil 
war,  we  will  endeavor  to  sketch  briefly  the 
condition  of  society  in  that  city,  as  it  ex- 
isted in  1851,  in  its  relations  to  the  col- 
ored people  and  the  institution  of  slavery. 
Slavery  was  indeed  the  great  dominant 
fact  of  the  time,  swaying  everything  be- 
fore it,  breaking  up  parties  and  churches 
alike,  proving  itself  one  of  those  burning 
questions  that  have  no  mercy  for  the  re- 
pose of  nations. 

The  compromise  measures  of  1850  had 
just  been  adopted,  included  in  which  was 
the  infamous  Fugitive  Slave  Law  ;  and  no 
measure  for  the  security  of  slavery  ever 


?<i  Mrmoir  of  MvttilLi  Minn. 

lousal  ilcopor  imlij;iuitu>n  th.in  the  l.isl- 
iuuiuhI  act.  The  slave  jhuvci  was  cxtcnil- 
ing"  its  iliMiKiin  into  tho  nvw  lamls  ul  tho 
Snuthwcst.  aiul  especially  l\\.is.  thei\  re- 
cently acquired  tri>in  Mexico,  ll  was  hunt- 
ing" its  slaves  thii>uj'.lu>ul  \\w  lici'  Ntuth. 
ami  was  u\;'.naMt  c\iM\whcu\  in  \\\c 
church.  ii\  ttic  state,  in  the  picss.  it\  \.o\\\ 
lucrce,  auil  in  the  ci>llej'e.  Nothii\^'  was 
exempt  horn  its  dominion  The  al>olitii>n- 
ists  were  a  Iccblc  hand,  hkc  .i  V(Mct>  iM  viu}'. 
in  tlu"  wilderness,  di.Mnandin:\  immciliate 
emancipation.  I  lie  pait\  loimed  lor  po- 
litical action  .IS  yet  had  oid\'d,ncd  to  ^W 
niand  the  resttictiou  oi  shivery  to  the  oKl 
sla\e  States,  and  its  non-extension  niti>  the 
teiiitorics  ol  the  I'nilod  Stati's  then  exist- 
iu'-.  oi  that  nujdit  In-  aciiuiu'd.  This  party 
was  liist  known  .is  Ihi*  Iihoitv  |iail\'.  al- 
terwards  as  tin-  I'loo  1  Ji-moi  i.ilic,  ami  al 
the  time  of  whicii  wi-  write  as  the  l'"tfe- 
Soil  j)arty.  The  Kcpuhlican  |>ailv  h,id 
not  yet  hecn  loimctL  I'licir  w.is  .1  small 
hand    of    opponents    ol    .sl.ix'eiy    in    either 


/'hunilirjj/  the.  School.  ^i 

house  of  (Jongrcss,  the  most  noted  of 
which,  in  the  Senate,  were  Charles  Sum- 
ner, Willi.-irn  If,  Seward,  Salmon  V.  Chase, 
and  John  I'.  Ifale;  atifl  in  the  Ifcjuse, 
Joshua  R.  <'iiddin;^s.  'I'hese  maintained 
a  gallant  but  almost  hopeless  struggle 
against  the  slave  oligarchy,  which,  in- 
trciK  hcd  in  every  department  of  the  gov- 
ernment,—  executive,  legislative,  and  judi- 
cial,—  felt  its  power  to  be  secure,  and  was 
already  dreaming  (;f  new  worlds  to  conquer. 

The  slaves  in  the  District  of  Columbia 
numbered  sevend  thousands.  Their  con- 
dition was  not  so  dcplorabh;  as  on  the 
cotton  and  sugar  plantations,  but  some  of 
the  most  revolting  features  of  the  system 
existed  unconcealed.  Gangs  of  slaves, 
handcuffed  together,  to  be  sent  for  sale 
further  South,  passed  under  the  shadow  of 
the  Capitol,  and  there  was  a  slave  pen, 
with  its  whip|)ing-post,  across  the  river  at 
Alexand(i:i.  Ft  was  a  crime  If)  teach  these 
slaves  to  read  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount. 

In  Washington,  at  this  time,  there  were 


^2  Memoir  of  Myrtilla  Miner. 

also  more  than  eight  thousand  free  colored 
people,  not  prohibited  by  any  law  from 
obtaining  a  complete  education,  among 
whom  there  might  be  two  thousand  chil- 
dren of  suitable  age  to  attend  school.  It 
is  hardly  necessary  to  say  that  the  vast 
majority  of  the  white  population  were  bit- 
terly opposed  to  their  having  any  educa- 
tion whatever.  The  malignant  and  jealous 
spirit  of  slavery  which  watched  over  the 
national  capital  was  not  disposed  to  toler- 
ate that  anything  but  the  merest  rudiments 
of  learning  should  be  dispensed  to  the  free 
people  of  color,  so  closely  allied  to  the 
slaves  in  blood  and  sympathy. 

The  class  of  free  blacks  was  looked 
upon  by  all  supporters  of  the  system  of 
slavery  with  peculiar  suspicion  and  dislike. 
It  was  a  reproach  to  the  master  to  feel 
that  there  were  some  men  and  women,  of 
the  same  color  and  race  as  those  he  treated 
like  his  cattle,  who  could  walk  the  earth 
and  breathe  the  air  of  freedom  on  some- 
thing like  an  equality  with  himself.     To 


Founding  the  School.  ^^ 

the  slave  it  was  a  dangerous  example ;  for 
behold,  here  was  an  African  without  an 
owner  or  master,  which  might  lead  him  to 
think  that  a  master  or  owner  was  not  ab- 
solutely necessary  in  his  own  case.  Sev- 
eral of  the  newer  slave  States,  where  the 
spirit  of  the  system  was  most  dominant 
and  intolerant,  had  prohibited  free  colored 
people  from  remaining  within  their  bor- 
ders. But  in  the  old  slave  States  of  Mary- 
land and  Virginia,  from  which  the  District 
of  Columbia  was  originally  formed,  there 
was  a  considerable  body  of  free  colored 
people,  the  results  of  the  manumission  of 
slaves  in  former  years,  which,  although 
sanctioned  by  the  illustrious  example  of 
Washington,  had  long  since  ceased  to  be 
regarded  with  favor.  The  condition  of  this 
class,  while  of  course  immeasurably  above 
that  of  a  slave  in  some  respects,  was  in 
others  quite  as  bad  or  even  worse.  He 
could  not  testify  in  a  court  as  a  witness 
against  a  white  man,  much  less  sit  on  a 
jury,  which  latter  act  would  have  been 
3 


^4  Memoir  of  Myrtilla  Miner. 

considered  at  that  time  as  a  ridiculous  and 
impossible   thing.      He    could    not   travel 
without  a  pass,  and  if  found  without  one 
was  immediately  imprisoned.     These  dis- 
abilities  made   him    particularly  liable   to 
outrage,  for  there  was  no  one  having  even 
a  proprietary  interest  in  him  to  selfishly 
interpose  in  his  behalf.     Indeed,  as  Judge 
Taney  said  of  the  condition  of  the  colored 
man  at  the  time  of  the  formation  of  the 
republic,     "he    had   no   rights  which  the 
white  man  was  bound  to  respect."     This 
meant  that  any  crime  might  safely  be  com- 
mitted upon  his  person  or  property  ;  and 
it  was  literally  true  of  the  free  blacks,  as 
a  class,  where  they  were  fully  exposed  to 
the  hatred  and  contempt  of  a  slave-holding 
community.     In  Washington  the  condition 
of  the  free  blacks  was,  however,  mitigated 
to  a  certain  extent  by  the  fact  that  they 
were  under  the  eye  of  many  visitors  from 
the  North,  members  of  Congress  and  oth- 
ers, who  would   report   to   the   people  at 
home  any  especially  brutal  treatment  they 


Founding  the  School.  ^5 

might  observe ;  and  there  was  also  a  con- 
siderable infusion  of  Northern  blood  in  the 
resident  population.  It  should  be  men- 
tioned here  that  about  this  time  Dr.  Ga- 
maliel Bailey  had  succeeded,  after  a  deter- 
mined struggle,  in  establishing  the  "  Na- 
tional Era"  newspaper  at  the  capital, —  a 
Free-Soil  newspaper  on  slave  territory,  — 
and  around  him  gathered  a  limited  circle 
of  persons  who  held  anti-slavery  opinions. 
The  tone  of  society,  however,  as  a  whole, 
was  extremely  Southern  and  pro-slavery. 

It  was  into  this  community  that  Myrtilla 
Miner  came  with  one  hundred  dollars  in 
her  hand  with  which  to  start  a  Normal 
School  for  Colored  Girls,  her  main  object 
being  to  fit  young  colored  women  to  be 
teachers  of  their  own  race. 

Gn  December  3,  185 1,  the  school  was 
opened  in  a  small  apartment  which  had 
been  hired  for  the  purpose,  with  six  pupils. 
The  number  increased  to  fifteen  during  the 
first  month,  and  during  the  second  to  forty, 
which  was  the   average  for  the  first   two 


^6  Memoir  of  Myrtilla  Miner. 

years,  owing  to  the  impossibility  of  secur- 
ing larger  rooms.  Miss  Miner,  in  one  of 
her  appeals  for  aid,  thus  writes  of  the  char- 
acter of  the  schools  for  colored  people  ex- 
isting in  the  city  at  the  time  she  founded 
hers  :  "  There  were  previously  five  or  six 
private  schools  in  the  District,  taught  by 
colored  men,  from  which  some  of  these 
girls  [referring  to  her  pupils]  professed  to 
have  graduated,  z.  e.,  learned  all  their  in- 
structors could  teach  them.  But  they  were 
unable  to  apply  the  knowledge  they  had 
acquired  to  any  practical  use.  While  pro- 
fessing to  be  able  to  read  well,  they  had  no 
proper  understanding  of  what  they  read ; 
while  professing  to  understand  grammar, 
they  rarely  spoke  or  wrote  good  English ; 
while  professing  to  have  advanced  through 
practical  arithmetic,  they  could  neither  read 
nor  write  numbers  accurately,  nor  keep  ac- 
counts with  any  correctness."  "A  little 
learning  is  a  dangerous  thing,"  and  pupils 
like  many  of  these  who  had  been  only  half 
taught,  and,  in  some  cases  mis-taught,  were 


Founding  the  School.  ^7 

more  difficult  to  train  than  those  who  had 
remained  wholly  uncultivated. 

The  letters  which  follow  were  written  to 
a  very  dear  friend  in  Smethport,  Penn.,  and 
give  a  graphic  account  of  her  life  in  and 
for  the  school :  — 

Washington,  May  17,  1852. 
My  dear  Hannah,  — ...  More  than  two 
months  have  passed  since  I  penned  the 
preceding  page  with  a  right  good  will  and  a 
sure  design  of  finishing  this  right  speedily. 
I  could  not  bear  that  one  who  truly  loved 
me,  as  her  works  do  show,  that  one  whom 
I  truly  loved,  as  my  works  show  not,  should 
be  longer  left  in  doubt ;  but  my  duties  are 
oppressive.  Since  the  weather  has  become 
warm  I  am  obliged  to  allow  myself  more 
time  for  recreation.  I  wish  I  could  lay  a 
picture  of  all  my  doings  and  sayings  before 
you  since  I  commenced  writing  this.  I 
wish  I  could  have  you  by  my  side  one  week, 
while  I  rise  early  and  toil  late  to  accom- 
plish well  my  work. 


^8  Memoir  of  Myrtilla  Miner. 

After  seeking  out  and  stimulating  to 
earnest  exertion  forty  bright  pupils  for  six 
months,  you  should  see  me  try  to  get  aid  to 
build  a  schoolhouse  for  them  ;  you  should 
see  all  the  letters  I  write  for  that  purpose, 
and  then  see  all  the  people  I  am  obliged  to 
call  upon  ;  and  then  see  me  hunt  out  a  nice 
little  colored  girl,  all  untaught,  to  live  with 
the  wife  of  a  Congressman  and  be  properly 
brought  up ;  and  see  the  many  times  I 
walk  a  mile  to  accomplish  this,  besides 
teaching  five  days  in  the  week  and  doing 
most  of  my  sewing.  I  am  already  very 
thin  and  pale,  and  have  a  walk  of  one  mile 
to  school  each  day,  besides  all  else.  It  is 
true  I  ride  home  in  the  omnibus  at  three 
o'clock,  because  it  is  oppressively  warm, 
and  I  have  no  dinner  until  after  school, 
-which  makes  me  faint  as  well  as  weary. 

I  could  not  secure  a  good  boarding  place 
near  my  school,  for  that  is  nearly  out  of 
town,  the  people  having  obliged  us  to  move 
twice  to  get  out  of  their  way,  and  now  per- 
mitting us  to  have  no  better  school-room 


Founding  the  School.  ^9 

than  a  private  dwelling  affords,  and  that 
very  small.  Many  ladies  refused  to  take 
me  to  board  because  I  would  teach  colored 
girls,  and  much  else  of  obloquy  and  con- 
tempt have  I  endured  because  I  would  be 
about  my  Master's  business.  I  heed  it  not, 
though  I  am  to-night  informed  that  the 
new  mayor  will  abolish  all  colored  schools. 
I  care  not. 

If  God  hath  not  sent  me  to  this  work,  I 
hope  he  will  raise  up  means  to  defeat  me 
in  all  my  purposes  ;  and  if  it  is  his  work, 
and  he  has  permitted  me  to  be  the  instru- 
ment of  its  commencement,  no  man  or  men 
can  frustrate  the  design,  and  all  their  ef- 
forts will  prove  unavailing.  I  cannot  half 
answer  your  two  good  full  letters,  but  I 
wish  you  to  write  me  again,  and  I  will  try 
to  answer  some  time,  though  it  may  be 
months  first ;  for  I  have  constantly  a  vast 
number  of  business  letters  and  letters  of 
inquiry  on  hand  to  answer,  and  can  usu- 
ally keep  up  with  all  that  is  absolutely 
necessary. 


40  Memoir  of  Myrtilla  Miner. 

I  was  delighted  to  receive  the  letters 
from  the  little  maidens,  and  will  enclose  a 
note  for  them  all  together,  and  not  only  for 
those  who  wrote,  but  all  the  rest  that  love 
and  wish  to  hear  from  me.  I  am  inter- 
ested in  all  you  write,  especially  in  the 
teacher  now  at  college,  etc. . . .  Love  to  all, 
and  in  truth  thine,  M.  Miner. 

The  following  letter  to  the  same  friend, 
of  a  later  date  than  the  foregoing,  exhibits 
her  devotion  to  her  work  and  the  pleas- 
ure she  took  in  it :  — 

Washington,  October  20,  1852. 

My  Friend  Beloved,  —  I  must  begin 
anew.  Far  away  from  Jie7-e  was  I,  at  the 
commencement  of  this  sheet,  and  a  world- 
full  have  I  seemed  to  live  since  then.  You 
will  forgive  the  delay  when  I  tell  you  that 
I  labored  continually,  during  my  vacation, 
to  SQcviTQ  fimds,  hoping  to  purchase  a  place 
for  my  school ;  that  at  one  time  I  deemed 
it  entirely  certain,  but  one  hour's  delay  on 


Founding  the  School.  41 

the  part  of  the  agent  here  allowed  it  to  be 
sold  beyond  our  reach.  This  nearly  dis- 
tracted me  with  disappointment,  so  that 
I  could  not  write  to  any  one,  and  there- 
fore my  Providence  visit  passed  almost 
in  silence,  aside  from  constant  exertions, 
which  after  all  have  brought  us  no  im- 
mediate relief.  I  have  returned  to  open 
school  in  the  same  little  rooms,  which  are 
crowded  with  the  thirty-three  already  en- 
tered, and  a  throng  is  yet  in  reserve  for 
the  winter. 

I  love  this  school  of  mine  profoundly, 
and  have  really  no  idea,  when  I  am  with 
them,  that  they  are  not  white,  recognizing 
their  spiritual  more  than  their  physical. 
Some,  indeed  many,  spirits  with  whom  I 
come  in  contact  here  seem  far  darker  than 
they. 

I  have  never  before  felt  myself  exactly 
in  my  own  "  nicJu,''  fully  satisfied  with  the 
work  I  had  to  do  ;  because  I  never  before 
realized  all  the  benefits  resulting  to  the 
world  from  my  labors  that  I  hope  are  em- 
bodied here. 


42  Memoir  of  Myrtilla  Miner. 

Feeling  full  content  in  obscurity,  caring 
not  that  the  vain  world  comprehend  my 
motives,  so  that  such  loved  ones  as  you 
appreciate  them,  I  rest  in  peace.  .  .  . 

I  was  sick  when  your  letter  came, 
scarcely  able  to  be  about,  yet  in  my  school 
until  the  middle  of  July  ;  since  then,  every 
moment  busy.  ...  I  hope  to  have  a  per- 
manent place  for  myself  and  school  before 
the  year  is  past,  and  if  your  friends  the 
"  Kings,"  or  any  others,  can  be  induced  to 
contribute  aid,  grant  us  your  influence,  for 
property  is  so  high  we  shall  be  obliged  to 
pay  about  one  thousand  dollars  to  secure 
one  appropriate. 

With  kind  regards  to  all  the  dear  friends, 
believe  me  devotedly  yours,  in  prayer  that 
good  angels  may  guard  you  and  yours  ever 
more.  Myrtle  Miner. 

The  following  are  extracts  from  a  letter 
written  in  the  spring  of  1853  :  — 

"My  thirty-eighth  birthday  has  gone  by. 


Founding  the  School.  4} 

and  that,  too,  rather  sadly.  It  was  the  day 
of  Pierce's  inauguration,  —  noisy,  boister- 
ous, stormy,  and  fatiguing,  just  as  I  never 
wish  '  a  birthday  to  be.  I  always  count 
these  as  way-marks,  or  points  for  erecting 
altars,  where  the  heart's  incense  may  rise, 
acknowledging  all  the  good  of  the  past, 
and  throwing  into  the  censer  the  great 
hopes  of  the  future.  I  know  of  no  more 
effectual  mode  of  dissolving  ^;?r/' than  this 
noting  the  way-marks,  dotting  the  whole 
way  of  life  with  thanksgiving,  and  espe- 
cially wherever  we  see  mercy  interfering 
with  our  short-sighted  plans,  and  solving 
the  mystery  of  greater  good. 

"Another  mode  is  that  of  scanning  the 
inner  temple,  to  learn  just  how  much  of 
sorrow  comes  from  the  disappointment  of 
our  favorite  plans,  drawn  often  in  selfish 
pride,  or  ambition  altogether  earthly,  and 
frequently  of  such  a  character  that,  if  con- 
summated, we  must  be  swallowed  in  the 
depths  of  the  moral  quagmire  they  pro- 
duce. ... 


\ 


^^  Memoir  of  Myrtilla  Miner. 

"  It  is  a  hard  thing  I  have  here  at- 
tempted, and  I  often  fear  I  have  not  the 
strength  necessary  to  perform  well  the 
part  assigned  ;  but  if  I  can  prepare  the 
way  for  some  nobler  spirit^  my  duty  will 
be  done.  .  .  . 

"  I  hold  myself  to  this  work,  for  we  have 
now  bought  a  whole  city  square  of  ground 
for  the  school,  more  than  three  acres,  at  a 
cost  of  four  thousand  dollars,  and  the  funds 
are  to  be  raised  to  pay  for  it  and  build  soon. 

"...  I  forgot  to  tell  you  that  I  think 
God  designs  to  employ  the  feminine  prin- 
ciple more  in  this  age  for  the  redemption 
of  the  world  ;  therefore,  Clara  must  not  be 
worshipped,  but  trained  to  strength  and 
fitted  for  great  action.  .  .  . 

"  Ever  yours  in  living  faith, 

"  Myrtle  Miner." 

The  following  letter,  written  in  the  au- 
tumn of  1853,  fully  shows  the  condition  of 
the  school  at  that  period  :  — 


Founding  the  School.  4^ 

"  I  am  so  glad  you  questioned  particu- 
larly about  our  school,  for  I  say  our  to 
everybody  that  helps.  It  reminds  me  that 
I  am  in  the  habit  of  thinking  all  my  friends 
must  be  familiar  with  facts  which  I  have 
written  to  a  few  ;  but,  surely,  I  thought  I 
acknowledged  the  receipt  of  the  five 
dollars  enclosed  in  your  Wisconsin  letter, 
for  it  was  that  letter  I  last  answered. 

"  I  did  receive  it  ;  it  came  most  oppor- 
tunely, at  a  time  when  I  was  sore  pressed 
for  want  of  funds,  for  those  times  do  fre- 
quently come.  I  had  just  returned  from 
my  summer  travels,  *  out  of  pocket,'  as 
usual,  and  waited  four  long  weeks  in  sus- 
pense, with  current  expenses  going  on, 
hoping  to  get  possession  of  our  own  pur- 
chased property  to  open  my  school.  The 
scholars  were  all  impatient  and  anxious, 
and  twice,  meanwhile,  came  out  with  their 
satchels  of  books  to  find  the  school ;  and  at 
last  I  was  obliged  to  rent  a  place  to  open 
school,  our  own  having  to  pass  through  the 
process  of  an  arbitration  between  the  tenant 


^[(5  Memoir  of  Myrtilla  Miner. 

and  landlord  who  sold  it  to  us,  before  we 
can  be  permanently  settled.  This  pur- 
chased place,  of  which  we  have  the  deed 
(and  only  wait  temporarily  for  possession), 
cost  four  thousand  dollars.  It  is  a  whole 
square  of  ground,  comprising  more  than 
three  acres,  a  little  out  of  town,  in  a  thriv- 
ing neighborhood,  convenient  to  market, 
etc.  Has  on  it  a  small  frame  house  and 
barn,  many  fruit  and  shade  trees,  etc.  It 
is  held  by  two  men  in  Philadelphia,  who 
accepted  and  gave  security  for  the  two 
thousand  dollars  loaned,  spoken  of  in  the 
circular,  thus  becoming  self-constituted 
trustees.  All  moneys  contributed  for  the 
purchase  are  paid  over  to  them  immedi- 
ately, I  not  reserving  sufficient  to  pay  my 
travelling  expenses.  .  .  .  Mrs.  Stowe  has 
sent  us  one  thousand  dollars  of  the  *  Un- 
cle Tom's  Cabin '  money,  and  several  other 
individuals  have  contributed  each  one  hun- 
dred dollars,  others  fifty  dollars,  —  among 
these.  Dr.  Bailey  of  the  '  Era  ; '  and,  of 
course,  these  people  must  be  well  assured 


Founding  the  School.  ^7 

of  the  profitable  and  right  appropriation 
of  these  funds,  which  is  the  best  assurance 
I  can  give  your  Smethport  friends  in  so 
short  a  letter, 

"  Dr.  Bailey  has  always  been  ready  to 
publish  anything  for  the  school  (which  has 
been  successfully  sustained  two  years  next 
December)  in  the  '  Era,'  and  has  often 
requested  it  ;  but,  when  acquainted  with 
the  local  objections,  until  our  place  was 
purchased,  has  thought  best  to  refrain  ; 
but  you  will  have  something  soon,  and 
also  a  full  first  annual  report,  giving  the 
rise,  progress,  and  present  state,  which  is 
indeed  most  encouraging. 

"  When  the  school  did  open  this  month, 
the  pupils  rushed  in  so  happy  in  the  appre- 
ciation of  the  blessing,  so  hearty  in  study, 
so  neat  in  appearance,  and  so  quiet  in 
manners,  that  I  have  experienced  only  joy 
in  teaching  them. 

"  We  were  in  a  new  place,  it  being  the 
fourth  the  school  has  occupied  since  its 
establishment,  and  as  usual  there  were  some 


^8  Memoir  of  Myrtilla  Miner. 

threats  about  breaking  it  up  ;  but,  when 
the  pupils  assembled,  all  mutineers  seemed 
struck  dumb  with  its  beautiful  appearance, 
and  no  one  has  done  the  least  thing  to 
disturb  us.  On  the  contrary,  the  old  man 
who  rented  me  the  rooms  said,  '  Why,  I 
never  see  nicer  looking  scholars  in  my  life  ; 
nobody  will  disturb  these !  and  then  they 
are  the  quietest  set  I  ever  see.  You  would 
not  know  there  was  a  school  in  the  house, 
to  come  into  the  hall,  unless  the  door  was 
opened  in  the  schoolroom.'  All  this  is 
true,  and  yet  we  have  two  large  rooms, 
one  above  and  one  below,  not  as  conven- 
ient as  we  could  wish,  nor  can  we  expect 
to  secure  such  until  we  build.  Two  thou- 
sand dollars  are  already  contributed  for 
our  place,  and  two  thousand  loaned,  so  that 
it  is  paid  for  ;  but  we  have  yet  to  meet  the 
loa^i,  and  then  build  as  good  a  house  as 
we  can  afford.  The  school  books  and  also 
a  small  library  have  been  contributed  by 
publishers  and  friends,  but  the  teacher's 
support  (I  have  an  assistant)  comes  from 


Founding  the  School.  4g 

such  of  the  pupils  as  are  able  to  pay  one 
dollar  and  fifty  cents  a  month,  and  have 
everything  found  them.  This  would  be  a 
fair  support  in  Smethport,  with  an  average 
of  forty  pupils,  twenty-five  of  whom  pay 
regularly,  but  here,  where  board  is  twenty 
dollars  per  month,  it  is  a  mere  pittance. 
If  your  friend,  Mr.  Allen,  will  write  me,  I 
will  gladly  give  any  further  intelligence  in 
my  power  ;  or,  if  there  are  still  any  ques- 
tions unanswered  for  you,  remind  me,  and 
they  shall  be  promptly  attended  to.  The 
reason  we  have  published  so  little,  while 
the  school  was  prospering  to  the  delight 
of  all  who  saw  it,  was  to  avoid  the  possi- 
bility of  defeat  in  our  plans  to  purchase 
such  a  place  as  we  pleased  ;  but  now  that 
is  over,  you  will  hear  enough  from  us,  I 
presume. 

"  Remember  me  kindly  to  all  the  dear 
ones,  and  believe  me,  in  truth, 

"  Ever  the  same, 

♦*M.  Miner." 
4 


50  Memoir  of  Myrtilla  Miner. 

Washington,  May  3,  1854. 

Beloved,  — ...  You  know  my  hours  are 
not  my  own ;  they  scarcely  were  in  the 
life  I  lived  with  you  ;  much  less  now.  If 
only  my  school  duties  rested  on  me  I  could 
strongly  bear  them,  but  since  the  ist  of 
March,  when  I  became  thirty-nine  years 
old,  I  have  had  housekeeping  cares,  for 
then  we  got  possession  of  our  own  pleasant 
school  and  home  ;  and  as  the  "  Edmondson 
family  "  ^  resided  fourteen  miles  out  in  the 
country,  and  must  have  time  to  move  here, 
Emily  and  I  had  to  do  our  own  cooking 
and  all  for  a  month.  But  now  that  is  past, 
and  we  have  three  little  people  boarding 
with  us,  to  watch  over,  wash,  dress,  and 
comprehend,  —  the  last  the  hardest  of  all. 
For  a  few  weeks  after  we  moved  to  this 
place,  which  was  in  a  most  forlorn  and 
desolate  condition,  with  no  fence  to  bound 
its  broad  acres  and  thrifty  fruit  trees,  no 
security  to   its  old  clattering  houses,  the 

•  A  family  of  colored  people  who  came  to  live  on  the  place. 
Emily,  the  daughter,  assisted  in  the  school. 


Founding  the  School.  5/ 

locks    and    bolts,    blinds    and   fastenings, 
seeming  to  have  had  a  general  rebellion 
and  "  stepped  out,"  Emily  and  I  lived  here 
alone,    unprotected,    except    by   God,    the 
rowdies  occasionally  stoning  our  house  at 
evening,   and   we   nightly  retiring   in    the 
expectation  that  the  house  would  be  fired 
before  morning.     Why  it  was  not  can  only 
be  referred  to  the  fact  that  He  who  per- 
mits the  wrath  of  man  to  praise  Him  re- 
straineth  the  remainder.    On  one  occasion, 
while   the   stones   were   falling   upon    the 
house  weightily,  I  rushed  out  and  walked 
a  whole  square  to  get  a  man  to  go  for  the 
night  watch,  and  in  about  fifteen  minutes 
four  very  savage-looking  men,  armed  with 
clubs,  etc.,  made  their  appearance,  giving 
the  kind  assurance  that  they  would  keep 
an  eye  to  our  safety.     Since  then  our  high, 
hard -to -get -over  picket  fence  has  been 
built,  Emily  and  I  have  been  seen  practic- 
ing shooting  with  a  pistol,  the  family  have 
come,  and  a  dog  with  them,  and  we  have 
been   left   in   most  profound  peace.     We 


^2  Memoir  of  Myrtilla  Miner. 

have  many  good  trees,  some  shrubs,  rasp- 
berries, strawberries,  rhubarb,  and  aspara- 
gus in  abundance,  the  place  having  once 
been  cultivated  for  fruit  and  vegetables, 
and  many  remnants  being  left.  All  this  is 
very  agreeable,  but  it  gives  me  care,  and 
makes  me  work,  and  taxes  my  invention 
to  direct  others.  These  things  devolve 
upon  me  because  the  trustees  reside  in 
Philadelphia,  and  cannot  come  to  attend  to 
them.  The  consequence  is  that  with  forty- 
five  pupils  I  have  enough  to  do  to  keep 
me  fully  alive.  .  .  . 

My  school  has  been  visited  to-day  by 
people  from  Kentucky,  New  Hampshire, 
Massachusetts,  Canada,  and  Washington. 
.  .  .  With  love  to  all  thine  and  others. 

Ever  thy  Myrtle. 

Washington,  November  8,  1854. 

My  dear  Friend,  —  Late  at  night  and 

weary,  but  just  recovering  from  an  attack 

of  chills  and  fever,  which  came  of  dreadful, 

dreadful  weariness,  I  seize  my  pen  hastily 


Founding  the  School.  5^ 

to  tell  you  how  sorely  I  have  been  pressed 
by  care,  and  therefore  you,  with  all  my 
dear  friends,  have  been  left  unnotified  of 
my  fate. 

But  Cleopha's  little  letter  will  show  you 
how  early  I  designed  giving  you  some 
knowledge  of  our  safe  return.  When  I 
reached  home  I  found  Emily,  on  whom  I 
depended  for  help,  just  ready  to  start 
North  to  collect  funds  to  buy  her  brother, 
who  is  a  slave  ;  and  behold,  I  was  left  with 
three  little  boarders  to  watch  over  out  of 
school,  thirty-five  scholars  to  teach  during 
the  day,  and  all  my  fall  work,  fitting  up 
this  old  house  for  winter ;  and  it  being  our 
first  winter  in  it,  it  was  no  small  task  to 
bring  things  into  Yankee  comfort.  .  .  . 
This  is  why  you  have  not  heard  from  and 
received  all  the  kind  expressions  due  your- 
self and  the  Smethport  friends.  The  chil- 
dren 1  and  I  talk  much  of  our  visit  there, 
and  they  have  repeated  to  their  school- 
mates all  that  occurred,  even  to  the  play- 

^  Colored  children  who  were  cared  for  in  the  writer's  family. 


^4  Memoir  of  Myrtilla  Miner. 

ing  hide-and-seek,  and  getting  up  in  their 

night-gowns,  etc.  .  .  . 

Oh,  how  glad  I  am  for  the  long,  quiet, 
resting  visit  I  had  with  you ! 

Everywhere  else  they  kept  me  stirring, 
and  sometimes  I  wearied  sadly.  But,  upon 
the  whole,  I  was  glad  I  took,  the  children, 
for  when  they  returned  and  stood  by  their 
schoolmates  I  saw  that  they  had  improved 
astonishingly.  We  had  some  amusing 
scenes,  I  assure  you.  At  one  place  the 
people  had  a  big  meeting,  made  the  chil- 
dren sing  their  little  songs  alone  in  church, 
and  then  took  up  a  collection  of  more  than 
twenty  dollars. 

My  school  prospers  in  spite  of  my  weak- 
ness, and  I  must  bid  you  adieu  and  rest. 
Remember  me  to  thy  good  husband.  In 
love  to  thee  and  all,  Myrtle. 


•^raii^'vfr^  S?^  (?^y'^S^*  nr^S^Al/^  ^ 


IV. 

The  Pro-Slavery  Opposition  to  the  School. 


ROM  the  earliest  development  of 
her  plan  to  teach  colored  girls  in 
Washington,  Miss  Miner  had  to 
encounter  the  hostiHty  of  the  community 
in  general,  although  it  did  not  reach  the 
point  of  a  formal  protest  from  the  leading 
elements  of  society  until  the  school  had 
been  in  progress  for  a  number  of  years. 

What  she  had  most  to  fear  from  the  be- 
ginning was  rowdyism  and  incendiarism. 
She  prepared  to  meet  the  former  by  prac- 
ticing with  a  pistol,  and  training  herself  to 
take  good  aim  by  shooting  at  a  mark.  One 
of  the  most  annoying  manifestations  was 
that  of  rowdies  congregating  near  her 
school  to  insult  the  girls  as  they  came  out 
on  their  way  home.  One  of  her  pupils  of 
this  time  says,  '•  She  was  one  of  the  brav- 


^6  Memoir  of  Myrtilla  Miner. 

est  women  I  have  ever  known  ;  and  just 
here  I  am  reminded  of  an  incident  which 
occurred  one  night  while  I  was  with  her, 
when  the  evening  school  was  in  session. 
Some  rowdies  came  to  the  school-house. 
She  stood  bravely  at  the  window  with  a 
revolver,  and  declared  she  would  shoot  the 
first  man  who  came  to  the  door.  They  re- 
treated at  once."  Once  her  house  was  set 
on  fire,  but  a  passer-by  awoke  her,  and 
helped  to  put  it  out.  Stones  were  fre- 
quently thrown  at  her  windows  in  the 
night-time,  and  she  was  otherwise  annoyed. 
It  is  related  that  at  one  time,  in  answer  to 
threats  of  violence,  she  fearlessly  and  in- 
dignantly exclaimed,  "  Mob  my  school ! 
You  dare  not !  If  you  tear  it  down  over 
my  head  I  shall  get  another  house.  There 
is  no  law  to  prevent  my  teaching  these 
people,  and  I  shall  teach  them,  even  unto 
death ! "  Looking  into  her  earnest  face 
and  flashing  brown  eyes  they  saw  that  she 
would  do  it. 

It  is  interesting  to  learn  that  the  Presi- 


Pro-Slavery  Opposition  to  the  School.     ^7 

dent's  carriage  came  often  to  the  humble 
school  door  to  bring  Mrs.  Means,  an  aunt 
of  Mrs.  Pierce,  who  was  attracted  by  Miss 
Miner's  enthusiasm.  Such  countenance 
from  so  high  a  source  probably  did  much  to 
hold  in  check  the  hatred  of  the  mob,  which 
was  at  times  threatening  and  troublesome. 
It  was  the  custom  of  Miss  Miner  to  issue 
circulars,  almost  annually,  appealing  for 
aid  in  carrying  on  her  enterprise.  Some 
time  previous  to  1856  the  funds  and  prop- 
erty of  the  school  were  placed  under  the 
care  of  a  board  of  trustees,  of  which  Rev. 
W.  H.  Beecher,  then  of  Reading,  Massa- 
chusetts (a  brother  of  Rev.  Henry  Ward 
Beecher),  was  secretary.  Mr.  Beecher  is- 
sued a  circular  in  December,  1856,  in  be- 
half of  the  school,  which  seems  to  have 
attracted  much  attention.  In  fact,  it 
stirred  up  a  spirit  of  opposition  in  Wash- 
ington which  appeared  likely  to  terminate 
seriously,  and  for  a  time  Miss  Miner,  who 
was  then  absent,  was  in  doubt  whether 
her  presence  in  Washington  would  not 
create  active  disturbance. 


55  Memoir  of  Myrtilla  Miner. 

The  most  important  article  that  appeared 
in  opposition  to  the  school  was  written  by 
Mr.  Walter  Lenox,  at  one  time  mayor  of 
the  city  of  Washington.  It  was  evidently 
carefully  considered,  3nd  was  printed  in  the 
"National  Intelligencer"  of  May  6,  1857. 
It  is  reproduced  here  in  full,  as  a  very  sig- 
nificant document,  historically  considered, 
showing  the  high  tide  which  pro-slavery 
feeling  had  reached,  when  one  of  the  most 
conservative  and  respectable  of  American 
newspapers  could  open  its  columns  for 
such  an  attack  on  one  feeble  woman  for 
teaching  a  few  innocent  girls  to  read  and 
write  the  language  of  Algernon  Sidney  and 
Patrick  Henry. 

To  THE  Editors.  —  Entertaining  the 
opinion  that  the  following  article,  taken 
from  the  "  Boston  Journal,"  should  be  made 
known  to  the  citizens  of  this  District,  I  re- 
quest its  republication,  with  the  accom- 
panying comments,  in  your  paper. 

Walter  Lenox. 


Pro-Slavery  Opposition  to  the  School.     59 

Fro?n  the  "  Boston /ournal"  of  April  18^  1^37. 

School  for  Free  Colored  Girls  in 
Washington.  —  There  are  in  the  United 
States  five  hundred  thousand  free  people 
of  color.  They  are  generally,  although 
subject  to  taxation,  excluded  by  law  or 
prejudice  from  schools  of  every  grade. 
Their  case  becomes  at  once  an  object  of 
charity,  which  rises  infinitely  above  all 
party  or  sectional  lines.  This  charity  we 
are  gratified  in  being  able  to  state  has  al- 
ready been  inaugurated,  through  the  de- 
voted labors  of  an  excellent  young  lady 
from  Western  New  York,  by  the  name  of 
Miss  Myrtilla  Miner,  who  has  established 
and  maintained  for  the  past  four  years  in 
the  city  of  Washington  a  school  for  the 
education  of  free  colored  youth.  This 
school  is  placed  there  because  it  is  na- 
tional ground,  and  the  nation  is  responsi- 
ble for  the  well-being  of  its  population  ; 
because  there  are  there  eleven  thousand 
of  this  suffering  people  excluded  by  law 
from  schools  and  destitute  of  instruction ; 


6o  Memoir  of  Myrtilla  Miner. 

because  there  are  in  the  adjoining  States 
of  Maryland  and  Virginia  one  hundred 
and  thirty  thousand  equally  destitute,  who 
can  be  reached  in  no  other  way ;  and  be- 
cause it  is  hoped  through  this  means  to 
reach  a  class  of  girls  of  peculiar  interest, 
often  the  most  beautiful  and  intelligent, 
and  yet  the  most  hopelessly  wretched,  and 
who  are  often  objects  of  strong  paternal 
affection.  The  slaveholder  would  gladly 
educate  and  save  these  children,  but  do- 
mestic peace  drives  them  from  his  hearth  ; 
he  cannot  emancipate  them  to  be  victims 
of  violence  or  lust ;  he  cannot  send  them 
to  Northern  schools,  where  prejudice 
would  brand  them  ;  and  it  is  proposed  to 
open  an  asylum  near  them,  where  they  may 
be  brought,  emancipated,  educated,  and 
taught  housewifery  as  well  as  science,  and 
thus  be  prepared  to  become  teachers  among 
their  own  mixed  race. 

In  its  present  condition  this  school  em- 
braces boarding,  domestic  economy,  normal 
teachers,  and  primary  departments,  and  is 


Pro-Slavery  Opposition  to  the  School.     6i 

placed  under  the  care  of  an  association, 
consisting  of  the  following  trustees  :  Ben- 
jamin Tatham,  New  York ;  Samuel  M, 
Janney,  Loudoun  County,  Virginia;  Johns 
Hopkins,  Baltimore  ;  Samuel  Rhoads  and 
Thomas  Williamson,  Philadelphia ;  G.  Bai- 
ley and  L.  D.  Gale,  Washington ;  H.  W. 
Bellows,  New  York  ;  C,  E.  Stowe,  Ando- 
ver ;  H.  W.  Beecher,  Brooklyn  ;  together 
with  an  executive  committee  consisting  of 
S.  J.  Bowen,  J.  M.  Wilson,  and  L.  D.  Gale, 
of  Washington  ;  and  M.  Miner,  principal, 
and  Wiliam  H.  Beecher,  of  Reading,  sec- 
retary. 

The  trustees  state  that  a  very  eligible 
site  of  three  acres,  within  the  city  limits 
of  Washington,  of  the  northwest,  has  al- 
ready been  purchased,  paid  for,  and  secured 
to  the  trustees,  and  that  all  which  is  now 
wanted  is  $20,000  wherewith  to  erect  a 
larger  and  more  suitable  edifice  for  the 
reception  of  the  applicants  pressing  upon 
it  from  the  numerous  free  colored  blacks 
in  the  District  and  adjacent  States.     The 


62  Memoir  of  Myrtilla  Miner. 

proposed  edifice  is  designed  to  accommo- 
date one  hundred  and  fifty  scholars,  and  to 
furnish  homes  for  the  teachers,  and  pupils 
from  a  distance.  The  enlarged  school  will 
include  the  higher  branches  in  its  system 
of  instruction. 

There  was  a  meeting  yesterday  after- 
noon, in  an  anteroom  of  Tremont  Temple, 
of  gentlemen  called  together  to  listen  to 
the  statements  of  the  secretary  of  the 
Association  regarding  this  school.  The 
meeting  was  small,  but  embraced  such  gen- 
tlemen as  Hon.  George  S.  Hillard,  Rev. 
Dr.  Lothrop,  Rev.  E.  E.  Hale,  and  Deacon 
Greele,  all  of  whom  are  deeply  interested 
in  the  project. 

The  meeting  decided  to  draw  up  and  cir- 
culate a  subscription  paper,  and  counted 
upon  receiving  $10,000  for  the  purpose  in 
this  city.  The  pastors  of  several  churches 
in  New  York  have  pledged  their  churches 
in  the  sum  of  a  thousand  dollars  each. 
Mr.  Beecher  will  solicit  subscriptions  in 
most  of  the  principal  towns  of  Massachu- 


Pro-Slavery  Opposition  to  the  School.  6^ 
setts.  The  designs  and  benefits  of  the  proj- 
ect will  be  fully  set  forth  at  a  public  meet- 
ing in  this  city  in  the  course  of  a  fortnight. 


It  is  not  my  purpose  to  notice  the  impu- 
tations which  the  above  extract  contains, 
or  my  desire  to  provoke  a  sectional  con- 
troversy. The  matter  involved  is  too  mo- 
mentous in  all  its  relations,  not  only  to  this 
community,  but  to  the  entire  country  ;  and, 
in  the  language  of  the  extract  itself,  "  rises 
infinitely  above  all  party  or  sectional  lines." 
It  is  my  wish  to  arrest  public  attention  here, 
as  also  elsewhere,  in  order  that  such  im- 
mediate measures  may  be  adopted  as  the 
exigency  of  the  case  demands.  If  I  do  not 
entirely  mistake  the  opinion  which  the  citi- 
zens of  this  District  will  entertain  of  the 
character  and  fatal  consequences  of  this 
enterprise,  they  will  almost  universally, 
without  distinction  of  party  or  class,  em- 
phatically protest  against  it,  and  will  con- 
fidently expect  that  the  advocates  of  this 
measure  will  promptly  abandon  it,  as   an 


64  Memoir  of  Myrtilla  Miner. 

unjust  and  dangerous  interference  with  the 
interests  and  feelings  of  a  separate  inde- 
pendent community. 

The  proposition  is  to  establish  at  the 
city  of  Washington,  upon  an  extensive 
scale,  an  academy  for  the  education  of  free 
colored  males  and  females  from  every  sec- 
tion of  the  Union.  Let  us  calmly  view  the 
question  both  in  its  local  and  national  as- 
pects. The  District  of  Columbia  contains 
about  three  thousand  six  hundred  slaves 
and  ten  thousand  free  colored  persons. 
This  latter  class  embraces  very  many  most 
worthy  members,  who  contribute  to  the 
wealth  of  the  community,  but  the  necessi- 
ties of  a  large  portion  of  them  impose  an 
onerous  tax  upon  the  public  revenue  and 
upon  private  charity.  This  condition  of 
things  does  not  arise  exclusively  from 
their  own  demerits :  they  have  been  grad- 
ually and  to  a  very  considerable  extent 
ousted  by  the  increase  of  white  labor  from 
the  positions  formerly  filled  by  them  as 
domestics   and   laborers.      Their   number, 


Pro-Slavery  Opposition  to  the  School.     65 

originally  too  large  in  proportion  to  our 
white  population,  is  increasing  rapidly  both 
by  their  natural  increase  and  from  immi- 
gration. Justice  to  ourselves  and  kindness 
to  them  require  that  we  should  prohibit 
immigration  and  encourage  their  removal 
from  our  limits.  Now,  it  is  plainly  mani- 
fest that  the  success  of  this  school  enter- 
prise must  largely  increase  our  negro 
population  by  the  inducements  it  offers. 
The  schools  will  be  increased  with  the 
demand.  It  will  bring  not  only  scholars  to 
remain  temporarily,  but  entire  families, 
until  our  District  is  inundated  with  them. 
Upon  white  labor,  upon  the  present  col- 
ored residents  of  the  District  and  their 
descendants,  and  upon  the  public  gener- 
ally, this  increase  must  operate  most  injuri- 
ously. If,  however,  we  should  admit  that 
the  increase  from  this  cause  would  be 
trifling,  and  that  the  instruction  would  be 
mainly  confined  to  our  own  resident  popu- 
lation, the  following  insuperable  objection 
presents  itself  :  — 


66  Memoir  of  Myrtilla  Miner. 

The  standard  of  education  which  is  pro- 
posed is  far  beyond  the  primary  branches, 
and  will  doubtless  from  time  to  time  be  ad- 
vanced. Is  it,  then,  just  to  ourselves,  or 
humane  to  the  colored  population,  for  us  to 
permit  a  degree  of  instruction  so  far  be- 
yond their  political  and  social  condition, 
and  which  must  continue  to  exist  in  this 
as  in  every  other  slaveholding  community  ? 
With  this  superior  education  there  will 
come  no  removal  of  the  present  disabilities, 
no  new  sources  of  employment  equal  to 
their  mental  culture  ;  and  hence  there  will 
be  a  restless  population,  less  disposed  than 
ever  to  fill  that  position  in  society  which  is 
allotted  to  them.  In  my  judgment,  these 
two  objections  —  the  increase  of  our  free 
population  and  the  indiscriminate  educa- 
tion of  them  far  beyond  their  fixed  con- 
dition —  are  sufficient  reasons  for  us  to 
oppose  this  scheme. 

But  let  us  consider  the  subject  in  its 
more  important  relations  to  the  whole 
country.     There  has  been  for  many  years 


Pro-Slavery  Opposition  to  the  School.     6j 

a  persistent   agitation  of  the  question  of 
the  abolition  of  slavery  in  this  District.     It 
is  one  of  the  leading  purposes  of  a  power- 
ful, if  not  controlling  section  of  the  Repub- 
lican party.    The  advocates  of  this  measure 
know  that  it  is  hopeless  to  attempt  the 
accomplishment  of  it,  through  the  legisla- 
tion of  the    national  government,  without 
the  consent  of  all  parties  interested,  and 
therefore  they  deem  it  necessary  to  adopt 
an  indirect  course.     Again,  although  the 
Constitution    prohibits     any    interference 
with  slavery  in  the  States,  yet  its  abolition 
is  the  determined  resolve  of  a  large  portion 
of  the    Republican    party,    highly    distin- 
guished for  talents  and  energy.      For  this 
purpose  they  hold  themselves  justified  in 
using   every  influence  within  their  reach. 
Without  charging  this  intent  upon  all  the 
authors  and  present  supporters  of  this  en- 
terprise, can  we  doubt,  in  view  of  the  past 
history  and    present  action  of  "  abolition- 
ism," that  this  institution  will  be  controlled 
by  it,  and  employed  at  an  early  day  with- 


68  Memoir  of  Myrtilla  Miner. 

out  disguise  for  these  purposes  ?  We  can- 
not be  unmindful  of  the  character  and  aims 
of  some  of  those  announced  as  its  principal 
advocates  ;  and  even  if  this  particular  one 
should  be  preserved  from  such  influences, 
yet,  under  the  precedent  it  would  afford, 
others  would  be  established  for  these 
special  objects. 

A  misguided  philanthropy,  inflamed  by 
political  demagogism,  would  readily  supply 
the  means  and  the  agents  to  execute  its 
designs  ;  an  incendiary  press  in  our  midst 
will  soon  follow,  and,  with  all  these  varied 
and  active  agencies,  stimulated  by  the 
presence  of  adherents  in  Congress,  in  con- 
stant operation,  our  District  will  be  con- 
verted into  the  headquarters  of  "  slavery 
agitation,"  from  which  it  may  deal  forth  in 
every  direction  its  treasonable  blows.  It 
is  unnecessary  to  depict  the  fatal  conse- 
quences to  ourselves  and  to  the  country ; 
but,  in  considering  this  view  of  the  subject, 
we  cannot  forget  the  events  which  dis- 
turbed the  peace  of  our  country  some  few 


Pro-Slavery  Opposition  to  the  School.     6g 

years  since,  consequent  upon  the  act  of 
Drayton  and  Sayres  ;  and  how  quickly  the 
agitation  attendant  upon  it  spread  from  the 
crowded  streets  and  excited  populace  to  the 
halls  of  Congress.  If  these  apprehensions, 
then,  are  not  altogether  unfounded,  either 
in  their  relation  to  ourselves  or  the  country 
generally,  we  must  meet  the  responsibilities 
they  impose.  We  shall  gain  nothing  by 
concession  or  delay.  This  scheme  was 
started  some  years  ago  in  humble  guise, 
and  in  the  foothold  it  has  already  gained  it 
feels  secure  of  its  future  progress.  Ear- 
nest, prompt  action  can  now  arrest  it  peace- 
fully; tumult  and  blood  may  stain  its  fu- 
ture history. 

With  justice  we  can  say  to  the  advocates 
of  this  measure,  you  are  not  competent 
to  decide  this  question  ;  your  habits  of 
thought,  your  ignorance  of  our  true  rela- 
tions to  the  colored  population,  prevent 
you  from  making  a  full  and  candid  exami- 
nation of  its  merits,  and,  above  all,  the  tem- 
per of  the  public  mind  is  inauspicious  even 


yo  Memoir  of  Myrtilla  Miner. 

for  its  consideration.  If  your  humanity 
demands  this  particular  sphere  for  its  ac- 
tion, and  if,  to  use  your  own  language, 
prejudice  would  brand  them  at  your  North- 
ern schools,  establish  separate  institutions 
in  the  free  States,  dispense  your  money 
there  abundantly  as  your  charity  will  sup- 
ply, draw  to  them  the  unfortunate  at  your 
own  door,  or  from  abroad,  and  in  all  re- 
spects gratify  the  largest  impulses  of  your 
philanthropy ;  but  do  not  seek  to  impose 
upon  us  a  system  contrary  to  our  wishes 
and  interests,  and  for  the  further  reason 
that  by  so  doing  you  injure  the  cause  of 
those  whom  you  express  a  wish  to  serve. 
We  must  insist  that  within  our  limits  we 
are  the  best,  and  must  be  the  exclusive, 
judges  of  the  character  and  degree  of 
instruction  that  shall  be  imparted  to  this 
class  of  our  population  ;  who  shall  be  their 
teachers,  and  what  the  nature  of  the  in- 
fluences they  may  seek  or  shall  be  permitted 
to  exercise.  We  have  not  been  insensible 
heretofore  to  their  wants,  and  still  hold  our- 


Pro-Slavery  Opposition  to  the  School.     7/ 

selves  ready  to  minister  to  them  with  all 
proper  liberality  and  with  far  better  judg- 
ment than  strangers.  We  fully  acknowl- 
edge and  respect  our  relations  to  the  gen- 
eral government  and  to  the  citizens  of  the 
States,  but  in  this  matter  we  alone  must  be 
the  conservators  of  our  own  peace  and  wel- 
fare. And,  still  further,  we  cannot  tolerate 
an  influence  in  our  midst  which  will  not 
only  constantly  disturb  the  repose  and 
prosperity  of  our  own  community  and  of 
the  country,  but  may  even  rend  asunder 
the  "  Union  itself."  Such  a  protest  it  is 
the  duty  of  our  corporate  authorities  to 
make.  Its  beneficent  effect  may  be  to 
persuade  the  supporters  of  this  scheme  to 
abandon  its  further  prosecution ;  but  if 
otherwise,  the  responsibility  will  be  with 
those  who  by  their  own  wanton  acts  of 
aggression  make  resistance  a  necessity  and 
submission  an  impossibility.  W.  L. 


It  is  difficult  to  characterize  the  fore- 
going letter  as  it  deserves,  at  the  present 


y2  Memoir  of  Myrtilla  Miner, 

time,  when  African  slavery  with  all  its 
abominations  has  been  swept  away  ;  but  it 
is  worth  dwelling  on  for  a  moment  as  re- 
vealing the  baleful  influence  which  that  in- 
stitution exerted  over  the  minds  of  men 
otherwise  upright  and  honorable. 

Mr.  Lenox's  objections  can  be  summed 
up  under  four  heads  :  (i)  The  school  would 
attract  free  colored  people  from  the  adjoin- 
ing States  ;  (2)  That  it  was  proposed  to 
give  them  an  education  far  beyond  what 
their  political  and  social  condition  would 
justify ;  (3)  That  the  school  would  be  a  cen- 
tre of  influence  directed  against  the  exist- 
ence of  slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia  ; 
(4)  That  it  might  endanger  the  institution 
of  slavery,  and  even  rend  asunder  the 
Union  itself  \ 

Further,  as  worthy  of  special  notice,  at- 
tention is  called  to  the  arrogant  assumption 
of  the  right  to  be  "the  exclusive  judges  of 
the  character  and  degree  of  instruction 
that  shall  be  imparted  to  the  class  of  free 
colored    people,"    which    this    gentleman 


Pro-Slavery  Opposition  to  the  School.     75 

makes,  speaking  on  behalf  of  the  rulers 
of  Washington  society  of  that  date  ;  and 
finally,  the  covert  justification  of  mob  vio- 
lence in  case  "  the  protest  of  the  corpo- 
rate authorities  should  be  unavailing,"  with 
v^hich  the  article  closes. 

The  object  of  this  attack  was  a  Christian 
woman  seeking,  with  a  zeal  and  self-devo- 
tion worthy  of  the  early  Christian  martyrs, 
to  elevate  and  bless  with  knowledge,  refine- 
ment, and  virtue  some  hapless  maidens 
"  guilty  only  of  a  skin  not  colored  like  our 
own," 

It  will  seem  incredible  to  future  genera- 
tions that  the  author  of  this  article  was  es- 
teemed to  be  a  Christian  gentleman  ;  that 
he  spoke  the  sentiments  of  an  overwhelm- 
ing majority  of  the  refined  society  of  which 
he  was  a  member  ;  and  that  he  wrote  it 
in  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century, 
in  the  capital  city  of  the  great  republic, 
whose  boast  then  was  that  it  was  the  freest 
government  on  the  globe. 

As  the  proper  addendum  to  this  article 


y4  Memoir  of  Myrtilla  Miner. 

and  resulting  from  it,  we  give  below  from 
the  pen  of  her  associate  an  account  of  an 
interview  which,  in  the  autumn  of  1857, 
Miss  Miner  sought  with  Mr.  Seaton,  of  the 
famous  firm  of  Gales  and  Seaton,  editors 
of  the  "  National  Intelligencer." 

The  writer  with  some  trepidation  ac- 
companied Miss  Miner  to  the  office  of  the 
"  National  Intelligencer."  Upon  being  ush- 
ered into  the  dignified  presence  of  the  edi- 
tor Miss  Miner  asked  Mr.  Seaton,  "  Can 
you  spare  me  a  moment's  conversation.'*" 
He  replied  :  "  Certainly." 

Miss  M.  Some  time  in  last  May  an 
article  appeared  in  the  "  National  Intelli- 
gencer "  concerning  my  school.  I  wish 
to  know  if  you  were  aware  of  its  import. 

Mr.  Seaton.  I  was.  It  was  written  with 
my  consent  and  under  my  advisement. 
After  the  appearance  of  a  circular  propos- 
ing the  erection  of  a  large  institution  for 
educating  negroes  in  this  city,  Mr.  Lenox 
called    and    asked  what   I   thought  of  his 


Pro-Slavery  Opposition  to  the  School.     75 

writing  an  article  opposing  it.  I  concurred 
in  its  being  done  and  printed.  I  have  no 
objection  to  your  school  nor  to  educating 
the  negroes,  but  I  do  object  strongly  to 
having  them  collected  here  in  numbers  for 
any  purpose  whatever,  and  that  seemed 
the  intention  distinctly  stated  in  the  plan 
for  the  proposed  academy,  or  whatever  it 
was  to  be. 

An  invitation  was  extended  to  all 
throughout  the  Union,  no  limit.  We  have 
enough  of  them  and  more  than  enough. 
They  are  crowding  our  jails  and  poor- 
houses,  being  shut  out  of  most  employ- 
ments. 

I  have  always  favored  their  education, 
and  would  do  as  much  for  it  as  for  the 
education  of  the  white  race.  When  mayor 
I  attended  Mr.  Cook's  public  examination, 
and  protected  them  from  rowdies.  My 
sole  aim  in  this  article  was  against  having 
them  gathered  here  from  a  distance,  mak- 
ing this  a  great  centre,  which  would  be 
the  effect  of  the  school  you  proposed. 


76  Memoir  of  Myrtilla  Miner. 

The  negroes  have  now  quite  a  strong 
tendency  here  in  consequence  of  no  law 
being  in  force  against  their  coming. 

Those  now  living  here  are,  and  have 
always  been,  provided  with  schools.  There 
are  six  schools  here  taught  by  teachers  of 
their  own  color.  [In  reply  to  Miss  Miner 
he  said  :]  I  think  I  have  stated  Mr.  Lenox's 
view  also.  He  might  have  had  political 
motives,  but  I  think  not. 

Miss  M.  But  he  referred  to  politics. 
He  alluded  to  the  Republican  party,  and 
the  article  has  been  the  means  of  remov- 
ing Dr.  Gale  ^  from  the  Patent  OfBce. 

Mr.  S.  That  is  a  very  far-fetched  idea. 
It  is  begging  the  question.  I  know  no 
more  of  Dr.  Gale  than  of  the  Apostle  Paul. 
It  is  not  probable  that  the  President  knew 
anything  about  the  article,  but  he  has  been 
told  by  some  one  who  wished  Dr.  Gale's 
removal  that  he  was  an  abolitionist  or  a 

1  Dr.  L.  D.  Gale  had  accepted  a  place  on  the  board  of  trustees  of 
Miss  Miners  school;  hence  the  supposition.  The  pleasant  home 
of  the  "ever-blessed  Gales,"'  as  she  styled  them,  was  one  of  Miss 
Miner's  resting  places,  where  she  was  always  welcome. 


Pro-Slavery  Opposition  to  the  School.  77 
Free  Soiler.  You  know  in  this  boasted 
land  of  liberty  there  is  no  freedom.  It 
may  cost  a  man  his  bread  to  have  opinions 
of  his  own.  He  must  go  to  France  or 
Russia  for  freedom  ;  there  is  none  here. 

There  was  no  intention  on  my  part  to 
refer  to  any  party.  Personalities  are  not 
admitted  to  the  columns  of  the  "Intelli- 
gencer." If  anything  of  the  kind  comes 
to  my  knowledge  it  is  stricken  out.  We 
have  not  for  thirty  years  admitted  any  dis- 
cussions of  slavery  into  our  columns,  ex- 
cept, of  course  congressional  debates. 

Surrounded  by  danger,  at  any  time  a 
mob,  armed  with  bludgeons  and  pistols, 
may  fill  our  streets.  The  agitation  of  the 
subject  does  no  good,  but  great  harm.  We 
must  trust  to  Providence  to  remove  this 
anomalous  system  in  his  own  time;  we 
can  do  nothing. 

The  "Higher  Law"  men  would  smile 
at  mobs,  bloodshed,  anything  caused  by 
doing  what  they  thought  right.  I  prefer 
peace.     I  can   understand  how  Northern 


j8  Memoir  of  Myrtilla  Miner. 

men  must  feel  strongly  on  this  subject, 
how  odious  it  must  seem  to  them.  It  is  a 
great  abstract  wrong.  I  should  think  it  a 
great  wrong  to  enslave  a  man,  but  when 
he  is  already  a  slave  I  should  not  hesitate 
to  retain  him  in  that  condition.  Once 
more,  this  and  this  only  is  the  ground  of 
opposition  to  your  school  [repeating  what 
he  had  before  stated],  but  I  see  not  why 
you  did  not  go  to  the  writer  of  the  article 
in  question  instead  of  coming  here. 

Miss  M.  Because  it  derived  all  its 
power  from  the  fact  of  its  being  printed 
in  the  "  Intelligencer,"  not  any  from  the 
writer.  Have  you  seen  Dr.  Bailey's  re- 
view of  it  in  the  "Era".-*  That  gives 
statistics  showing  that  the  colored  popula- 
tion of  this  city  has  not  for  several  years 
increased  in  the  same  ratio  as  the  white, 
nor  in  the  same  proportion  as  in  former 
years,  and  the  diffusion  of  education  and 
intelligence  would  certainly  further  this 
diminution.  At  least,  education  makes 
them  safer  inhabitants. 


Pro-Slavery  Opposition  to  the  School.     J9 

Mr.  S.  I  have  not  seen  the  "Era" 
more  than  twice  within  the  year.  I  was 
much  opposed  to  its  establishment  here  as 
tending  to  cause  bad  feeling.  No  doubt 
the  article  in  question  is  able.  I  have  a 
great  respect  for  Dr.  Bailey.  I  know  there 
is  nothing  to  be  feared  from  these  people 
when  educated  ;  they  are  a  docile  race,  but 
Africa  is  the  place  for  them. 

Miss  M.  They  will  go  there  when 
they  become  intelligent  enough  to  under- 
stand their  true  interest. 

Mr.  S.  I  think  not.  It  is  only  the  slaves 
manumitted  with  that  purpose  in  view  who 
will  go ;  the  free  negroes  will  not  leave 
this  country. 

Miss  M.  The  idea  of  trying  to  elevate 
this  people  was  first  presented  to  my  mind 
from  seeing  the  degrading  influence  slav- 
ery exerted  on  the  white  race. 

Mr.  S.  Yes.  It  will  be  but  a  drop  in 
the  Pacific  Ocean. 


V. 


History  of  the  School. 

S  has  already  been  stated,  the 
school  was  founded  in  December, 
185 1,  and  soon  attained  an  aver- 
age attendance  of  about  forty  pupils,  com- 
posed of  young  girls,  chiefly  from  the  more 
well-to-do  colored  families  of  the  city. 

Miss  Miner  seems  to  have  issued  a 
printed  circular  nearly  every  year,  as  be- 
fore stated,  appealing  to  the  benevolent 
for  aid  in  her  enterprise,  and  her  summer 
vacations  were  devoted  to  traveling  in  the 
North  and  making  personal  appeals  for 
the  same  object.  She  very  early  became 
aware  of  the  necessity  of  securing  a  per- 
manent location  for  the  school.  In  one  of 
her  early  circulars  she  says,  "  The  greatest 
obstacle  to  be  met  was  that  of  securing 
suitable    rooms,    arising    from    the   well- 


History  of  the  School.  8i 

known  prejudice  against  letting  respect- 
able premises  for  such  a  purpose.  Owing, 
chiefly,  to  tliis  cause,  the  school  has  al- 
ready been  subjected  to  several  removals. 
Having  surmounted  many  obstacles,  and 
outlived,  in  some  measure,  the  prejudice 
which  at  one  time  threatened  to  crush  the 
attempt  to  educate  the  defenseless,  it  is 
most  desirable  that  a  permanent  situation 
be  secured." 

In  1853,  a  lot  had  been  purchased  in 
the  city  of  Washington,  comprising  about 
three  acres,  with  two  small  frame-houses 
upon  it,  situated  between  19th  and  20th 
Streets,  and  N  Street  and  New  Hampshire 
Avenue,  being  described  on  the  plan  of  the 
City  as  Square  No.  1 1 5.  The  cost  of  this 
property  was  about  $4,300.  It  was  pur- 
chased and  held  in  trust  for  the  purposes 
of  the  school  by  Thomas  Williamson  and 
Samuel  Rhoads,  two  benevolent  members 
of  the  Society  of  Friends  residing  in  Phila- 
delphia. (Mr.  Williamson  was  the  father 
of  Passmore  Williamson,  who  was  impris- 
6 


82  Memoir  of  Myrtilla  Miner. 

oned  for  aiding  in  the  escape  of  slaves.) 
Towards  the  payment  for  the  property  the 
trustees  had,  up  to  January  i,  1854,  re- 
ceived about  ^2,500,  and  the  remainder  was 
unpaid.  On  the  ist  of  March,  1854,  after 
much  trouble  in  dislodging  the  former  ten- 
ants, the  school  was  finally  established  on 
its  own  property,  and  one  of  the  houses 
on  the  lot  became  the  home  of  Miss  Miner, 
as  well  as  of  the  school. 

The  remoteness  of  the  location  from  the 
settled  part  of  the  city  had  its  disadvan- 
tages, as  she  was  often  alone  at  night,  with 
only  an  assistant  teacher,  who  lived  with 
her,  and  was  consequently  exposed  to  the 
attacks  of  rowdies,  and  worse,  who  were 
disposed  to  do  her  and  her  school  harm. 
But  still  it  was  a  great  point  gained  to 
have  the  school  stand  upon  its  own  ground 
with  room  for  indefinite  expansion.  And, 
through  all  the  hate  and  pro-slavery  preju- 
dice, the  school  lived  and  thrived.  Friends 
rallied  to  aid  and  make  it  permanent. 
Members    of   the    Society   of    Friends   in 


History  of  the  School.  8^ 

Philadelphia  and  other  places  gave  largely 
to  its  founder.  Among  these  Thomas 
Williamson,  Samuel  Rhoads,  Benjamin 
Tatham,  Jasper  Cope,  and  Catherine  Mor- 
ris were  liberal  donors.  Mrs.  Harriet 
Beecher  Stowe  gave  $i,ooo,  as  well  as 
hearty  sympathy  and  support  to  the  work. 
So  that  by  the  year  1856  the  property  pur- 
chased for  the  school  had  been  fully  paid 
for.  Her  valued  assistant  teacher,  whom 
we  have  before  quoted,  gives  us  a  brief 
glimpse  of  Miss  Miner's  labors  during 
these  years,  which  may  be  inserted  here  : 
"  How  she  worked  and  talked  to  arouse 
colored  people  to  see  the  importance  of 
what  she  wished  to  do  ;  how,  out  of  school 
hours,  she  begged  money  of  members  of 
Congress  and  Senators,  and  importuned 
writers  for  the  press  to  visit  and  report 
facts  relative  to  her  work ;  or  how  she 
spent  her  vacations  interesting  the  benev- 
olent, getting  their  aid ;  or  in  gathering 
the  library  of  several  hundred  volumes  ;  or 
obtaining   the   current  literary  magazines 


84  Memoir  of  MyrtUla  Miner. 

and  periodicals  to  improve  and  enlighten, 
can  never  be  fully  told." 

All  this  shows  what  one  energetic 
woman,  alive  with  a  holy  purpose  and 
with  the  magnetic  power  to  make  others 
feel  the  sacredness  and  beneficence  of  the 
cause  in  which  she  is  engaged,  can  accom- 
plish in  the  face  of  the  most  disheartening 
obstacles. 

Her  school  became  one  of  the  places  in 
the  Capital  to  be  seen,  and  visitors  from  all 
parts  of  the  Union  were  almost  daily  to  be 
found  there. 

Miss  Margaret  Robinson,  of  Philadelphia, 
thus  describes  her  visit :  "  In  the  winter  of 
1853,  accompanied  by  a  friend,  I  visited  the 
school  of  Myrtilla  Miner,  under  circum- 
stances of  peculiar  interest. 

"Arriving  about  ten  a.  m.,  we  learned 
from  a  pupil  at  the  door  that  the  teacher 
was  absent  on  business  of  importance  to 
the  school. 

"  We  were  not  a  little  disappointed,  sup- 
posing all  recitations  would  await  her  com- 


History  of  the  School.  8^ 

ing.     What  was  our  surprise  on  entering 
to  find  every  pupil  in  her  place,  closely  oc- 
cupied with  her  studies.     We  seated  our- 
selves by  polite   invitation  ;  soon   a   class 
read ;  then,  one  in  mental  arithmetic  exer- 
cised itself,  the  more  advanced  pupils  act- 
ing  as   monitors ;    all    was    done   without 
confusion.     When  the  teacher  entered  she 
expressed  no  surprise,  but  took  up  the  busi- 
ness where  she  found  it,  and  went  on.    We 
learned,  subsequently,  that  this  was  no  un- 
usual thing.  On  one  occasion,  being  obliged 
to  leave  for  several  days,  she  referred  to  the 
scholars   the   question  whether  the  house 
should  be  closed,  or  they  continue    their 
exercises  without  her  ;  they  chose  the  lat- 
ter.    On  her  return   she  found  all  doing 
well,    not   the   least    disorder    having    oc- 
curred." 

In  1855,  Miss  Miner's  health  was  seri- 
ously broken.  In  writing  to  a  friend  of 
her  condition  at  that  time,  she  says,  under 
date  of  March  4,  1856:  "Almost  from  the 
time  I  last  wrote  you,  I  was  a  pitiable  in- 


86  Memoir  of  Myrtilla  Miner. 

valid,  still  trying  to  teach,  or,  at  least,  keep- 
ing up  my  school,  while  really  approaching 
that  stage  of  nervous  sensitiveness  and 
irritability  which  ends  in  insanity.  When 
reduced  to  suicidal  monomania  I  yielded  to 
vacation  influences,  hoping  speedily  to  re- 
cover my  usual  vigor  of  body  and  mind. 
But  they  were  too  far  exhausted,  and  with 
every  slight  effort  I  grew  worse  and  worse. 
At  this  stage  of  affairs,  I  visited  Mrs. 
Stowe,  who  seemed  inspired  to  understand 
my  state  without  being  told  ;  and,  immedi- 
ately, she  employed  Horace  Mann's  sister 
to  come  and  take  charge  of  the  school  one 
quarter,  and  sent  me  to  a  water-cure  es- 
tablishment, where  I  became  once  more 
conscious  of  life.  ...  I  am  quite  well  again 
except  my  poor  brain,  which  will  not  work 
well  more  than  three  hours  a  day  —  nor 
three  days  in  a  week,  when  the  labor  is 
continued  six  hours.  This  is  unlike  my 
former  power,  but  fortunately,  only  a  few 
of  my  friends  know  the  difference,  nor 
does  my  school,  so  I  make  my  way  success- 


History  of  the  School.  8y 

fully  still."  And  the  school,  in  spite  of  all 
obstacles,  did  grow  and  prosper  to  such  an 
extent  that  Miss  Miner  foresaw,  clearly, 
that  a  large  building,  to  be  erected  on  the 
permanent  site  that  had  been  secured, 
would  soon  be  absolutely  necessary.  As 
everything  depended  upon  her  own  per- 
sonal efforts,  she  decided  to  close  the  school 
temporarily,  with  the  twofold  object  of 
recruiting  her  broken  health,  and,  at  the 
same  time,  going  about  among  those  inter- 
ested in  the  advancement  of  the  colored 
race  to  sohcit  the  means  to  enlarge  the 
school.  Accordingly  in  July,  1856,  the 
school  suspended  until  the  autumn  of  1857, 
when  Miss  Miner,  whose  health  was  not 
yet  reestablished,  returned,  reopened  the 
school,  and  transferred  the  care  and  teach- 
ing of  it  to  a  lady  (Miss  Emily  Rowland  of 
Sherwood,  New  York)  whose  interest  in  the 
work  led  her,  without  any  previous  experi- 
ence as  a  teacher,  to  volunteer  to  fill  the 
unusual  and  difficult  place.  Miss  Rowland 
conducted  the  school  until  the  spring  of 


88  Memoir  of  Myrtilla  Miner. 

1859,  when  Miss  Miner  returned  to  Wash- 
ington, Extracts  from  her  letters  to  Miss 
Rowland,  given  below,  show  how  she  was 
toiling  in  the  North  to  get  funds  with 
which  to  erect  a  suitable  building  for  the 
school. 

In  the  summer  of  1857,  she  speaks  in  a 
letter  to  Miss  Rowland  of  traveling  mak- 
ing her  "  perfectly  senseless  and  sick  ;  but 
I  have  power  to  recuperate  speedily  ;  there- 
fore I  hope  and  work  on."  Again,  she 
says,  her  "  head  allows  nothing  rapid  of 
late."  But  all  this  time  she  was  traveling 
incessantly,  planning  or  working,  talking 
and  writing  for  her  heart's  desire. 

From  Boston,  February  9,  1858,  she 
writes  to  Miss  Rowland,  her  associate, 
"  This  morning  I  am  to  be  escorted  by  Dr. 
William  F.  Channing  to  call  upon  James 
Freeman  Clarke." 

February  10.  "I  did  go  yesterday  to 
Jamaica  Plain,  accompanied  by  Dr.  Chan- 
ning, to  see  J.  F,  Clarke.  The  result,  aside 
from  my  exhaustion  to-day,  was  $100  col- 


History  of  the  School.  8g 

lected."  She  speaks,  later,  of  wanting  Miss 
Hovvland  to  send  her,  from  Washington, 
"  some  of  those  '  dreadful '  circulars  of 
W.  H.  Beecher's.  I  have  walked  myself 
so  lame,  many  days  I  can  scarcely  move 
when  night  comes,  and,  sometimes,  not 
even  sit  up  or  talk.  But  I  have  collected 
$900  in  Boston,  and  a  prospect  of  a  thou- 
sand more.  .  .  .  Saw  Dr.  Bellows  and  got 
from  him  a  new  promise  that  he  will  raise 
the  ^1,000,  as  soon  as  I  get  my  remaining 
;^8,ooo,  one  of  which  Dr.  Tyng  takes,  and 
I  am  haunting  H.  W.  Beecher  to  have  him 
take  another  $1,000.  I  shall  try  Mr.  Chapin 
for  some  hundreds,  and  hope  to  have  $10,- 
000  in  hand  next  October  to  begin  to 
build." 

In  speaking  of  the  "  compositions  "  that 
were  sent  her  from  the  school,  she  says, 
"  Now  it  is  not  necessary  for  the  colored 
people  of  America  to  dwell  any  longer 
upon  the  injustice  and  inconsistency  of 
white  folks.  Their  business  is  to  see  how 
truly  noble  they  can  become,  regardless  of 


go  Memoir  of  Myrtilla  Miner. 

all  wrong  —  how  high  they  can  ascend, 
and  how  well  they  can  do.  I  should  like 
a  few  essays  on  general  subjects  that  can 
be  shown  to  some  people  who  are  not 
flaming  Abolitionists.  What  you  have  sent 
will  answer  for  the  latter  class,  and  now 
for  the  others."  But  while  she  was  think- 
ing of  the  greater  things  she  did  not  for- 
get the  lesser,  as  the  following  shows.  "  I 
think  of  you  with  carpets  up  (it  was 
house  -  cleaning  time  at  the  school)  and 
school  -  room  floors  scoured  clean,  walls 
whitewashed,  and  ceilings  and  windows 
washed,  —  in  fact,  with  spring  work  done. 
Has  Mr.  Thomas  done  the  hedge  and 
trimmed  the  grape-vine,  and  put  the  fence 
in  the  best  possible  order  .-•  "  Speaking  of 
an  intended  visitor,  she  says  :  "  I  am  anx- 
ious you  should  all  appear  clean  and  neat, 
with  bodies  washed  and  heads  combed, 
orderly  and  quiet  in  manners  ;  and  the 
house  in  perfect  order,  ornamented  with 
spring  flowers."  Of  her  progress,  she  says  : 
"June  20,  1858.     I  am  getting  a  new  cir- 


History  of  the  School.  gi 

cular  printed  to  send  to  everybody.  The 
Boston  people  will  do  well  without  me  all 
summer.  A  lady  in  Worcester  has  vol- 
unteered to  collect  there,  and  I  am  going 
to  Salem  and  Lynn  to  find  other  volun- 
teers." Speaking  of  a  time  when  her 
health  was  temporarily  better,  she  says : 
"I  no  longer  sigh  for  death  as  rest  to  my 
uncontrollable  weariness,  for  I  have  great 
repose."  In  another  letter  she  speaks  of 
"  that  foolish  shirking  and  shrinking  from 
their  fate,  which  destroys  the  colored  youth 
who  promise  well.  Let  them  stand  firmly 
and  meet  all  obstacles  arising  from  igno- 
rance and  fear  among  their  people."  In 
December,  1858,  she  writes  from  Provi- 
dence, Rhode  Island  :  "  It  is  good,  after 
weeks  of  severe  toil,  suffering,  meanwhile, 
from  a  bad  cough,  to  fall  back  for  a  day  or 
two  of  rest,  as  I  do  here,  and  except  my 
coughing  should  abate  its  fury,  I  shall  be 
kept  longer  than  my  wont.  ...  I  am  slowly 
but  surely  gathering  funds,  and  will  have  a 
new  house  next  year  if  it  be  built  with  only 
the  ^3,000  we  have  in  hand  now." 


g2  Memoir  of  Myrtilla  Miner. 

Of  Miss  Miner's  methods  in  conducting 
her  school  a  very  interesting  glimpse  may 
be  obtained  from  the  following  contribu- 
tion of  a  former  pupil :  — 

"  I  can  never  cease  to  be  grateful  to  the 
memory  of  Miss  Miner  for  the  untold  good 
she  has  done  through  her  pupils,  not  only 
in  Washington  and  vicinity,  but  wherever 
they  have  made  their  homes.  Special 
thanks  are  due  for  the  varied  training 
which  she  gave  us.  Realizing  that  there 
was  not  sufficient  time  for  each  study  in 
its  order  in  our  cases,  she  contrived  to 
give  us  an  insight  on  many  points  within 
a  limited  space  of  time. 

"  As  I  look  back  from  this  period  of  my 
life  and  see  how  many  things  I  need  to 
know,  how  much  more  information  I  might 
have  had,  had  I  been  a  more  attentive  and 
studious  pupil,  I  am  filled  with  sore  regret, 
because  now  I  have  no  leisure  wherein  to 
gain  much  knowledge. 

"Miss  Miner  gave  special  attention  to 
the  proper  writing  of  letters,  and  induced 


History  of  the  School.  9^ 

a  varied  correspondence  between  many- 
prominent  persons  and  her  pupils,  thus 
practically  bringing  her  school  into  larger 
notice  with  many  of  its  patrons  and 
friends,  and  vastly  increasing  the  experi- 
ence of  her  pupils.  Through  her  efforts 
we  had  correspondence  with  Dr.  Samuel 
G.  Howe,  Dr.  Orville  Dewey,  Rev.  Charles 
Ray,  and  others.  Through  her  we  knew 
many  influential  and  distinguished  per- 
sons, among  whom  were  Professor  and 
Mrs.  Stowe,  Hon.  Frederick  Douglass,  Mrs. 
Julia  Ward  Howe,  Miss  Catherine  Beecher, 
and  many  others. 

"  At  one  time  Mrs.  Horace  Mann  deliv- 
ered lectures  to  the  school  on  some  impor- 
tant subject,  and  her  niece,  Miss  Pennell, 
gave  us  drawing  lessons.  Rev.  Moncure 
D.  Conway  gave  a  course  of  lectures  on 
the  "  Origin  of  Words,"  from  which  we 
were  required  to  take  copious  notes.  Mr. 
Walter  W.  Johnson  also  gave  us  very  elab- 
orate lessons  in  astronomy,  and  on  a  few 
occasions  taught  us  to  trace  the  constella- 


94  Memoir  of  Myrtilla  Miner. 

tions  In  the  heavens.  The  last  two  named 
subjects  possessed  a  special  interest  and 
charm  for  me. 

"  Dr.  Bailey,  of  the  '  National  Era,'  was 
a  staunch  friend.  The  family  of  Secretary 
Seward  and  Miss  Dodge  (Gail  Hamilton) 
were  frequent  visitors.  Hon.  Gerrit  Smith 
and  his  daughter,  Mrs.  Miller,  were  also 
devoted  friends. 

"  Once  there  was  a  large  fair  at  the 
Patent  Office,  to  which  the  school  was 
taken  in  a  body. 

"Dr.  and  Mrs.  Gale,  of  Washington, 
were  warm  friends.  On  one  occasion  we 
visited  the  doctor's  laboratory  to  witness 
some  interesting  philosophical  experiments. 
All  these  advantages  show  how  untiring 
were  her  labors  for  the  welfare  and  intel- 
lectual advancement  of  her  pupils. 

"  I  remember  she  told  my  father  that 
she  thought  slavery  would  be  abolished  in 
less  than  ten  years.  He  was  somewhat 
incredulous,  having  always  lived  in  a 
Southern  atmosphere,  but  they  both  lived 


History  of  the  School.  95 

to  see  emancipation  proclaimed  by  the 
immortal  Lincoln  within  the  prophesied 
time. 

"She  obtained  for  her  school,  from 
Northern  friends,  a  large  number  of  news- 
papers and  periodicals  at  but  a  nominal 
cost  to  ourselves,  but  which  were  great 
helps  to  increase  our  knowledge  of  gen- 
eral matters.  She  also  gathered  quite  a 
library,  which  afforded  great  benefit  and 
pleasure  to  her  pupils. 

"  I  had  the  rare  pleasure  of  being  inti- 
mately associated  with  her  outside  of  school 
relations;  have  spent  many  an  afternoon 
and  portions  of  Sabbaths  in  her  company. 
"  She  was  a  frequent  visitor  at  my 
father's  house,  my  parents  having  a  high 
appreciation  of  her  labors  in  the  commu- 
nity. They  always  made  her  welcome  at 
their  home,  and  assisted  her  in  many  ways. 
"  I  was  much  impressed  with  the  re- 
membrance of  Miss  Miner's  earnest  desire 
to  have  erected  on  the  site  which  she 
purchased  a  large  building  for   a    'girls' 


g6  Memoir  of  Myriilla  Miner. 

school,*  and  how  Providence  ruled  it  other- 
wise. 

"The  Miner  Building  is,  I  believe,  es- 
pecially consecrated  to  her  memory.  But 
the  public  schools  of  Washington,  in  their 
several  handsome  buildings,  employ  among 
their  corps  of  teachers  many  of  Miss  Mi- 
ner's former  pupils,  some  of  whom  have 
been  employed  since  the  foundation  of  the 
schools.  These,  in  their  united  and  varied 
work,  are  building  a  greater  monument  to 
her  memory  than  any  one  building  could. 

"  Would  that  I  could  offer  a  fitting  trib- 
ute to  her  memory.  I  love  and  revere  her 
still.  This  must  suffice.  '  Her  works  live 
after  her.'  'Though  dead  she  yet  speak- 
eth.'  Matilda  Jones  Madden." 


The  school  was  frequently  visited  by 
members  of  Congress  and  their  families. 
Among  these  may  be  mentioned  Schuyler 
Colfax  (afterwards  Vice-President  of  the 
United  States),  Joshua  R.  Giddings,  Owen 


History  of  the  School.  97 

Lovejoy,  and  Charles  Durkee,  of  Wiscon- 
sin, as  taking  a  special  interest.  Senator 
Seward's  family  were  conspicuous  in  be- 
stowing their  friendship  and  support. 

The  school  was  also  visited  by  a  num- 
ber of  distinguished  clergymen  resident  in 
Washington  and  elsewhere,  and  received 
many  cordial  tributes  from  them  and  from 
others  interested  in  the  cause  of  education. 

Senator  Henry  Wilson,  of  Massachusetts, 
afterwards  Vice-President  of  the  United 
States,  said,  in  i860,  in  an  excited  debate 
in  the  Senate,  in  which  Jefferson  Davis 
participated,  "There  is  a  noble  woman 
here  in  Washington  teaching  colored  girls." 
In  Mr.  Wilson's  book,  entitled  "The  Rise 
and  Fall  of  the  Slave  Power  in  America," 
he  says  :  "  The  noble  woman  referred  to 
was  Myrtilla  Miner,  one  of  the  heroines  of 
the  irrepressible  conflict ;  not  because  she 
figured  largely  upon  the  theatre  of  popular 
discussion  or  entered  her  public  protest 
against  the  evils  of  slavery,  but  because  in 
the  humble  walks  of  the  lowly  she  quietly 
7 


g8  Memoir  of  Myrtilla  Miner. 

sought  out,  and  with  patient  and  protracted 
effort  educated,  the  children  of  the  pro- 
scribed and  prostrate  race."  Mr.  Wilson 
then  sketches  briefly  the  incidents  of  Miss 
Miner's  life  as  given  in  this  memoir,  and 
closes  with  the  following  eloquent  tribute  : 
"There  is  something  touchingly  impres- 
sive in  the  life  and  purpose  of  Miss  Miner. 
In  the  great  and  grim  tragedy  of  human 
affairs  they  afforded  a  delightful  episode. 
In  this  selfish  world  —  with  its  grasping  and 
jostling  throng  —  she  seemed  like  some 
angel  ministrant  on  her  mission  of  mercy. 
On  the  dark  background  of  the  nation's 
history  it  seemed  an  illuminated  picture 
resplendent  with  truthfulness  and  love. 
Her  life  of  romantic  incident  was  at  once 
redolent  and  beautiful.  It  was  in  itself  a 
sweet  poem,  a  living  evangel  of  a  heart 
yearning  towards  humanity,  and  filled  with 
a  sublime  trust  in  God."  ^ 

Some  time  in   i860  the  school  appears 

'  Rise  and  Fall  of  the  Slave  Power  in  A  nurica.     Vol.  ii.  pp. 
583-586. 


History  of  the  School.  99 

to  have  closed.  The  shadows  of  the  ap- 
proaching conflict  were  deepening  on  the 
horizon  ;  the  blasts  of  opposition  were  so 
fierce,  the  elements  on  every  hand  were  so 
threatening,  that,  in  her  shattered  health, 
she  felt  incapable  of  breasting  the  storm 
which  she  had  long  known  must  come 
sooner  or  later.  In  1856,  writing  to  a  dear 
friend,  she  had  predicted  it  in  these  words  : 
"  I  begin  to  have  previsions  that  Fremont 
will  not  be  elected  —  then,  forebodings  of 
civil  war  and  your  danger  in  Washington. 
I  believe  it  is  coming  as  I  believe  my  life." 

In  1 86 1  she  went  to  California,  mainly 
with  a  view  to  the  restoration  of  her 
health.  While  there  she  met  with  a  seri- 
ous accident,  and  returned  to  die  in  Wash- 
ington, in  1864,  as  will  be  related  in  the 
next  chapter. 

While  Miss  Miner  was  absent  in  Cali- 
fornia her  friends  in  Washington  were  not 
idle ;  and  Congress,  relieved  at  last  of  its 
pro-slavery  incubus  by  the  secession  of  the 
South,  easily  passed,  in  1863  (Mr.  Wilson 


too  Memoir  of  Myrtilla  Miner. 

introducing  it  in  the  Senate,  February  17, 
1863),  an  act  for  the  incorporation  of  the 
Institution  for  the  Education  of  Colored 
Youth  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  thus 
putting,  at  last,  the  national  seal  and  sanc- 
tion on  the  labors  of  so  many  years  of 
prayer  and  struggle.  We  give  the  act  of 
incorporation  below :  — 

[Chapter  103.     Act  of  March  3,  1863,  U.  S.  Stats,  at  L., 
V.  12,  p.  796.J 

An  Act  to  incorporate  the  Institution  for  the  Edu- 
cation of  Colored  Youth  in  the  District  of 
Columbia. 

Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House 
of  Representatives  of  the  United  States 
of  America  in  Congress  assembled,  that 
Henry  Addison,  John  C.  Underwood, 
George  C.  Abbott,^  William  H,  Channing, 
Nancy  M.  Johnson,  of  the  District  of 
Columbia,  and  Myrtilla  Miner,  of  Califor- 
nia, and   their   associates  and   successors, 

1  The  name  of  Mr.  Abbott  is  incorrectly  given  in  the  act  as  passed. 
It  should  have  been  George  J.  Abbot. 


History  of  the  School.  loi 

are  hereby  constituted  and  declared  to  be 
a  body  politic  and  corporate,  by  the  name 
and  title  of  "  The  Institution  for  the  Edu- 
cation of  Colored  Youth,"  to  be  located  in 
the  District  of  Columbia ;  the  objects  of 
which  institution  are  to  educate  and  im- 
prove the  moral  and  intellectual  condition 
of  such  of  the  colored  youth  of  the  nation  as 
may  be  placed  under  its  care  and  influence, 
and  by  that  name  shall  have  perpetual  suc- 
cession, with  power  to  sue  and  be  sued,  to 
plead  and  be  impleaded,  in  any  court  of 
the  United  States,  to  collect  subscriptions, 
make  by-laws,  rules,  and  regulations,  as 
may  be  needful  for  the  government  of  said 
institution,  and  the  same  to  alter,  amend, 
and  abrogate  at  pleasure  ;  to  have  a  com- 
mon seal,  the  same  to  break,  alter,  and  re- 
new at  will  ;  to  appoint  such  officers  as 
may  be  required  for  the  management  of 
the  institution,  and  to  assign  them  their 
duties,  and  generally  to  provide  for  the 
transaction  of  all  business  appertaining  to 
said   institution.      And  the  by  -  laws  and 


I02         Memoir  of  Myrtilla  Miner. 

regulations  which  may  be  so  adopted  shall 
be  as  valid  as  if  they  were  made  a  part  of 
this  act :  Provided,  They  shall  not  be  in- 
consistent herewith,  nor  repugnant  to  the 
laws  of  the  District  of  Columbia. 

Section  2.  And  be  it  further  enacted, 
That  said  corporation  may  have,  hold,  and 
receive,  for  the  purpose  of  said  institution, 
and  for  no  other,  real,  personal,  and  mixed 
estate,  by  purchase,  gift,  or  devise,  not  to 
exceed  one  hundred  thousand  dollars ;  to 
use,  lease,  sell,  or  convey  the  same  for  the 
purposes  and  benefit  of  said  institution ; 
may  appoint  such  teachers  as  may  be  nec- 
essary, and  fix  their  compensation. 

Section  3.  And  be  it  further  enacted, 
That  said  corporation  shall  not  be  engaged 
in  any  banking  or  commercial  business, 
nor  shall  it  issue  any  note,  check,  or  other 
evidence  of  debt  intended  to  be  used  as 
a  circulation  ;  and  Congress  may  have  the 
right  to  alter  or  repeal  this  act  at  any  time 
hereafter. 

Approved  March  3,  1863. 


History  of  the  School.  roj 

The  corporators  organized  soon  after 
the  act  was  passed,  and  chose  additional 
members,  but  it  was  not  until  February, 
1871,  that  arrangements  were  completed  by 
which  the  school  was  continued.  This 
was  first  accomplished  in  connection  with 
Howard  University,  of  Washington,  D.  C, 
where  a  Preparatory  and  Normal  Depart- 
ment was  organized  under  the  control  of 
that  institution,  but  supported  from  the 
funds  collected  by  Miss  Miner. 

In  May,  1872,  the  square  of  ground  (No. 
115)  which  was  purchased  in  1853  for  four 
thousand  dollars  was  sold  by  the  corpora- 
tors of  the  "  Institution  for  the  Education 
of  Colored  Youth  "  for  forty  thousand  dol- 
lars. This  sum,  with  the  other  funds  that 
had  accumulated,  gave  an  assured  annual 
income  of  about  three  thousand  dollars, 
and  it  was  felt  by  the  corporators  that 
greater  usefulness  would  be  attained  if  the 
school  should  assume  a  more  independent 
existence.  So  the  arrangement  with  How- 
ard University  was  terminated,  and  on  the 


104         Memoir  of  Myrtilla  Miner. 

13th  of  September,  1876,  the  Miner  Nor- 
mal School  was  reopened  in  a  leased  build- 
ing, No.  161 3  P  St.,  N.  W. 

Soon  the  need  of  more  extensive  and  in- 
dependent accommodations  was  so  impe- 
riously felt  that  the  corporators  decided 
to  erect  a  school  building  of  their  own, 
which  was  accomplished  in  1877  at  a  cost  of 
thirty-seven  thousand  dollars.  This  fine 
and  commodious  building,  situated  on  17th 
Street,  between  P  and  Q  streets,  with  the 
lot  on  which  it  stands,  was  wholly  paid  for 
out  of  the  Miner  Fund,  and  is  called  the 
Miner  School  Building.  By  an  arrange- 
ment with  the  School  Trustees  of  the  Dis- 
trict of  Columbia,  that  portion  of  the  build- 
ing not  occupied  by  the  Normal  School  was 
leased  at  an  annual  rental  to  the  District  of 
Columbia  for  other  colored  schools. 

The  dedication  of  the  new  building  took 
place  October  18,  1877,  with  appropriate 
and  interesting  ceremonies.  Rev.  William 
Henry  Channing,  Miss  Miner's  friend  and 
counselor  for  many  years,  and  whose  office 


History  of  the  School.  lo^ 

it  was  to  say,  as  only  he  could  say,  the  fit- 
ting words  at  her  burial,  was  happily  able 
to  be  present  and  make  the  dedicatory 
address.  He  drew  an  inspiring  picture  of 
the  future  of  the  colored  race  on  this  con- 
tinent, was  eloquent  throughout,  and,  at 
times,  deeply  touching.  Frederick  Doug- 
lass, the  most  eloquent  and  distinguished 
member  of  the  colored  race  present,  and 
one  of  the  most  powerful  of  American  ora- 
tors, white  or  black,  made  a  glowing  and 
impassioned  speech,  in  which  he  embodied 
the  account  of  Miss  Miner's  visit  to  him 
while  seeking  for  aid,  which  is  given  in  his 
letter  in  the  early  part  of  this  memoir. 

The  school  was  reopened  on  P  Street 
under  the  care  of  Miss  Mary  B.  Smith,  of 
Beverly,  Massachusetts,  as  principal.  Miss 
Smith  and  her  sister,  Miss  Sarah  R.  Smith, 
continued  the  school  when  later  it  was  re- 
moved to  the  new  building,  until  they  were 
succeeded  by  Miss  M.  B.  Briggs,  in  Sep- 
.tember,  1879.  Miss  Briggs  was  succeeded 
by  Miss  Lucy  E.  Moten,  in  September, 
1883. 


io6         Memoir  of  Myrtilla  Miner. 

The  first  treasurer  of  the  institution 
after  it  organized  under  the  act  of  incor- 
poration was  Francis  George  Shaw,  of 
Staten  Island,  New  York.  He  was  suc- 
ceeded by  George  E.  Baker,  formerly  of 
Washington,  now  of  New  York,  who  still 
continues  in  that  ofBce,  and  to  whom  the 
institution  is  under  many  obligations  for 
his  careful  and  able  management  of  its 
finances. 

The  present  Board  of  Corporators  is 
composed  as  follows :  Mrs.  Nancy  M. 
Johnson,  President ;  George  E.  Baker, 
Treasurer;  Mrs.  Ellen  M.  O'Connor,  Sec- 
retary ;  Walker  Lewis,  Caroline  B.  Winslow, 
M.  D.,  Frederick  Douglass,  Miss  Emily  J. 
Brigham,  Mrs.  Mary  J.  Stroud,  and  Rev. 
Rush  R.  Shippen. 

By  an  arrangement  with  the  Trustees 
of  the  Public  Schools  of  the  District  of 
Columbia,  consummated  in  1879,  it  was 
agreed  that  the  Miner  Normal  School 
should  bear  the  same  relation  to  the  Board 
of  Trustees  of  Public  Schools  and  pupils 


History  of  the  Schoot.  loj 

of  the  colored  schools  of  the  District  of 
Columbia  as  then  existed  between  the 
Washington  Normal  School  (for  whites) 
and  pupils  of  the  white  schools  of  said 
District. 

Since  the  above  arrangement  was  con- 
summated, by  which  the  school  became  a 
part  of  the  colored  school  system  of  the 
District  of  Columbia,  and  up  to  June,  1884, 
eighty-two  young  women  have  graduated 
from  it,^  sixty-four  of  whom  are  now  em- 
ployed as  teachers  in  the  public  schools  of 
the  District  of  Columbia ;  eight  have  retired 
after  service  in  the  schools  ;  two  have  died 
while  in  the  service,  and  several  are  now 
teaching  elsewhere.  It  is  acknowledged 
that  the  colored  schools  of  the  District 
have  been  much  benefited  by  being  fur- 
nished in  this  manner  with  trained  pro- 
fessional teachers. 

Miss  Miner,  referring  to  the  high  stand- 
ard she  had  always  held  up  for  the  guidance 

*  On  the  4th  of  June,  1885,  sixteen  more  young  women  graduated 
from  the  Miner  Normal  School. 


io8         Memoir  of  Myrtilla  Miner. 

of  the  school,  sa3^s  in  one  of  her  letters : 
"  But  it  becomes  me  to  candidly  confess 
my  continuous  weakness  (if  weakness  it 
be)  in  not  having  reduced  my  standard  of 
excellence  for  that  school ;  and  I  would 
rather  see  it  suspended  forever  than  con- 
tinued on  reduced  principles,  indulging  the 
weaknesses  and  deteriorating  elements  of 
character  which  attend  all  oppressed 
classes."  It  is  a  pleasure  to  be  able  to 
state  that  under  successive  able  principals 
the  standard  of  excellence  upheld  by  Miss 
Miner  has  not  been  allowed  to  deteriorate, 
and  that  the  school  will  compare  favorably 
with  white  schools  of  the  same  grade  in  any 
part  of  the  Union.  And  the  institution 
bids  fair  to  continue  for  many  years  in  the 
future  to  exalt  and  perpetuate  the  memory 
of  its  founder,  and  be  a  continual  blessing 
to  the  community  where  it  exists. 


VI. 


Personal  Traits.  —  Close  of  a  Noble  Life. 

ER  personal  appearance  is  thus  de- 
scribed by  one  who  knew  her  inti- 
mately. "  Miss  Miner  was  a  fasci- 
nating woman.  She  had  bright  brown 
eyes,  a  pale,  clear  skin,  an  aquiline  nose, 
and  a  graceful  neck.  Her  beautiful  dark 
brown  hair  she  always  wore  in  curls,  form- 
ing a  frame  on  each  side  of  her  pale  but 
animated  face.  She  was  well  built,  of 
about  medium  height,  chest  rather  broad, 
with  shoulders  which  gave  her  a  vigorous 
look  despite  her  habitual  ill  health.  To 
this  she  never  gave  way.  She  was  full  of 
personal  magnetism,  and  never  failed  to 
impress  deeply  all  with  whom  she  came  in 
contact." 

Says  the  friend  who  afterwards  became 
her  valued  assistant  in  the  school  work :  — 


no  Memoir  of  Myrtilla  Miner. 

"  She  was  often  severe  in  her  kindness, 
as,  no  doubt,  many  of  her  old  pupils  will 
remember.  Perfectly  intolerant  of  bad 
odors,  because  the  result  of  generations  of 
unwashed  bodies  ;  perfectly  indifferent  to 
the  luxurious  meals  often  prepared  for  her 
in  the  homes  of  her  pupils,  because  of  the 
untidiness  of  those  homes  ;  it  must  be  said 
of  her,  as  of  many  a  spirited  teacher  before 
her,  that  she  was  not  always  patient  of 
spirit.  She  grudged  waiting  for  results  ; 
she  wanted  her  scholars  to  attain  at  once 
to  be  very  beautiful  in  body  and  mind.  In 
her  tremendous  efforts  to  compass  this  ob- 
ject she  exhausted  her  physical  strength. 
She  used  up,  and  often  wasted,  her  vitality 
for  those  whom  she  would  see  lifted  up  a 
little,  even  if  she  died  in  the  attempt  to 
raise  them.  I  remember  two  little  girls 
who  came  with  her  from  Washington,  and 
who  traveled  with  her  extensively  through 
the  North.  How  scrupulously  neat  she 
obliged  them  to  be,  and  how  sensitive  she 
was  on  their  account,  as  much  so,  it  seemed 


♦     Personal  Traits.  in 

to  me,  as  if  they  had  been  her  own  chil- 
dren. She  could  not,  without  great  grief 
to  herself,  have  any  one  remember  that 
they  belonged  to  a  despised  race.  They 
were  everything  to  her,  and  she  watched 
them  with  jealous  care. 

"She  was  impatient  of  the  prejudice 
which  was  found  with  some,  and  could 
hardly  wait  for  it  to  subside.  If  those 
little  girls  hved  to  womanhood,  and  are 
still  living,  they  must  often  remember  her 
tender  care  for  them  and  her  affectionate 
solicitude." 

Opening  one  of  Miss  Miner's  letters  to 
this  lady,  who  was  in  charge  of  her  school 
during  one  of  her  absences,  one  can  hardly 
help  a  smile  at  finding  a  wood-cut  of  what 
school-girls  would  call  some  "  horrid  things," 
and  written  upon  it  by  Miss  Miner,  "  Ani- 
malculae  of  the  teeth,  for  the  girls  to  ex- 
amine who  neglect  to  clean  theirs  daily;" 
evidently  torn  from  an  advertising  circular 
of  some  wonderful  tooth  powder. 

Miss  Miner's  extraordinary  strictness  in 


112         Memoir  of  Myrtilla  Miner. 

the  matter  of  personal  cleanliness  may  be 
further  illustrated  by  the  following  charac- 
teristic extract  from  a  letter  written  by  her 
to  a  young  colored  woman,  who,  as  will  be 
seen,  contemplated  coming  to  Washington 
to  assist  her  in  the  school :  "  You  seem 
willing  to  come,  but  I  hope  you  consider 
how  exceedingly  particular  I  am  ;  that  I 
require  every  scholar  to  bathe  all  over 
every  day,  and  should  not  like  a  person  in 
my  house  who  would  neglect  it ;  indeed,  I 
would  not  live  with  one  who  was  careless 
in  her  personal  habits." 

"  Miss  Miner  was  a  spirited  teacher," 
says  the  friend  quoted  before.  "  Her  whole 
living  was  intense,  and  there  was  but  little 
repose  about  her.  I  have  a  distinct  recol- 
lection that  whenever  she  was  with  me 
she  kept  me  alive  all  over.  But  whatever 
else  she  was,  she  was  unquestionably  the 
true  friend  of  the  then  despised  colored 
race  ;  and  whatever  else  she  did  or  did 
not  do,  she  labored  for  that  race,  and 
groaned  in  spirit  for  them." 


Personal  Traits.  ii^ 

Her  ideals  of  life  were  exalted  and  pure, 
and  the  intensity  of  moral  purpose  which 
enabled  her  to  accomplish  such  a  noble 
work  in  the  world  finds  energetic  expres- 
sion in  the  following  extract  from  one  of 
her  letters :  "  Character  is  what  the  age 
calls  for;  character  that  dare  do  a  noble 
deed;  that  can  outlive  the  ebb  tide  of  a 
false  world's  judgment;  that  can  be  true 
to  God  and  man  and  leave  the  result. 
Oh,  'the  opinion  of  the  world,'  I  hate  it! 
I  would  despise  myself  more  than  I  do 
now  were  I  bound  by  it.  It  is  not  true 
to  manhood,  or  to  womanhood,  or  to  hu- 
manity. If  you  can  do  a  good  deed  or  a 
noble  or  a  true  one,  do  it.  Care  not  for 
the  'opinion  of  the  world.'  Keep  your 
own  heart  pure  and  true  ;  that  will  secure 
to  you  a  higher,  holier  opinion  than  all  the 
world  combined  could  bestow.  You  and 
God  are  the  beings  involved  as  having  any 
opinion  of  consequence.  What  should  you 
care  for  any  other.!*  Self-consciousness  of 
good  or  evil  is  the  great  law,  and  the  only 


114         Memoir  of  Myrtilla  Miner. 

one  for  which  you  or  I  shall  be  held  re- 
sponsible before  the  Judge  of  the  quick 
and  the  dead." 

Writing  to  a  young  man  who  had  gone 
to  Lake  Superior  to  live  and  work,  under 
date  of  February  ii,  1855,  she  says  :  "That 
glorious  aurora,  it  is  worth  living  in  Lake 
Superior  a  year  to  behold !  and  my  enthu- 
siasm would  almost  make  me  also  willing 
to  watch  all  night  in  ecstatic  delight.  I 
am  so  glad  you  love  nature ;  it  is  an 
everlasting  resource.  Love  it  still,  I  pray 
you ;  love  simplicity  in  childlike  confidence, 
and  truth  in  holy  faith.  ...  I  would  have 
yours  a  great,  true,  noble  manhood  !  God 
has  made  you  of  very  nice  material,  and  if 
you  will  let  Him,  He  will  refine  you  with- 
out the  fire  of  afifliction.  He  will  make 
you  pure,  and  holy,  and  good  enough  to 
live  on  earth,  and  bless  and  be  blessed. 
You  have  but  to  cherish  the  good  that  is 
in  you,  and  let  it  overpower  the  evil,  so 
that  your  mind  may  see  all  light  and  all 
truth,   and   you  will   immediately  become 


Personal  Traits.  ii^ 

one  of  nature's  nobility,  and  no  man  can 
question  the  origin  of  your  aristocracy,  for 
it  is  above  his  ken,  except  he  belong  to 
the  same  household,  and  receive  his  in- 
heritance from  the  Almighty.  .  ,  . 

"Above  all,  whatever  else  may  betide, 
pray  the  good  Lord  to  save  you  from  ever 
sinking  so  low  as  to  become  a  Northern 
doughface^  —  the  meanest  thing  that  God 
permits  to  live !  ...  As  I  have  no  doubt 
you  are  to  become  an  important  item  in 
the  '  State  of  Superior,'  I  hope  you  may 
cultivate  enough  of  your  religious  element 
to  pray  in  faith,  shown  by  works,  an  anti- 
doughface  prayer  that  will  be  heard  and 
answered  all  your  life  long." 

A  lady  who  was  a  pupil  of  Miss  Miner's 
when  she  taught  in  Smethport  Academy, 
in  1850  says :  "As  the  time  passed  on,  we 
saw  embodied  in  our  teacher  a  character 
entirely  original  and  independent  in  its 
relations  to  human  judgments  and  worldly 

*  A  Northern  man  with  Southern  principles;  an  apologist  for 
slavery. 


Ii6         Memoir  of  My  r  til  la  Miner. 

considerations,  but  grandly  responsive  to 
any  demands  that  were  made  by  human 
needs,  and  to  all  commands  that  were 
recognized  as  coming  from  the  Father  of 
All."  .  .  . 

"  The  pupils  of  this  true  teacher  were 
enriched  by  highest  principles  of  character 
building,  and  they  were  aided  in  grasping 
the  grand  ideas  of  the  dignity  of  human 
nature  and  of  the  brotherhood  of  all  in 
human  form.  Was  it  not  j  ust  like  this  large- 
hearted  woman  to  visit  the  prisoners  in 
our  county  jail  and  sing  to  them,  think- 
ing that  kindly  words,  accompanied  by  the 
sweetness  of  music,  might,  in  some  way, 
suggest  to  them  One  who  had  power  and 
willingness  to  loosen  fetters  of  sin,  and 
thus  make  free  indeed  ? " 

It  is  not  surprising  to  learn  that  one  who 
so  passionately  believed  in  education  and 
freedom  for  the  colored  race  insisted  with 
the  same  earnestness  upon  equal  rights  for 
woman,  in  all  social  and  political  relations. 

A  friend  says  that  Miss   Miner   was  in 


Personal  Traits.  iij 

the  habit,  every  Fourth  of  July,  of  writing 
a  protest  against  the  celebration  of  the 
day,  for  she  declared  that  it  had  not  pro- 
claimed the  equality  and  independence  of 
woman.  On  one  occasion  she  wrote  an 
eloquent  letter  on  this  theme  to  the  friend 
quoted,  —  Dr.  Caroline  B.  Winslow,  —  and 
in  it  expressed  the  idea  that  the  liberation 
of  the  negro  must  come  first,  and  then  the 
enfranchisement  of  woman.  It  is  deeply 
regretted  that  this  letter  has  been  lost, 
thus  making  it  impossible  to  give  her  lan- 
guage in  full. 

One  who  was  intimate  with  her  the  lat- 
ter part  of  her  life  writes  :  "  It  was  in  the 
year  1855  that  my  acquaintance  with  Miss 
Miner  began.  We  met  at  the  house  of  a 
friend  where  I  was  spending  some  days, — 
a  part  of  my  summer  vacation.  It  was  in 
July  or  August.  She  also  was  sojourning 
in  the  same  city.  Providence,  Rhode  Island, 
and  came  to  my  friend's  home  a  few  days 
before  I  left.  I  was  at  once  struck  with 
her  appearance,  and  intensely  interested  in 


//5         Memoir  of  Myrtilla  Miner. 

her  as  a  woman,  and  in  her  plans  and  pur- 
poses, of  which  I  had  heard  through  our 
mutual  friend,  Mrs.  Paulina  Wright  Davis, 
our  hostess. 

"  I  wish  that  I  were  capable  of  painting 
her  portrait  so  as  to  make  another  see  her 
as  she  looked  then  and  afterward.  To  say 
that  her  eyes  were  lustrous  and  brown 
gives  no  idea  of  the  depth  and  variety  of 
expression  in  them.  They  were  at  times 
the  most  gentle  and  smiling  of  eyes  ;  again, 
upon  occasions  when  her  indignation  was 
aroused,  they  were  capable  of  expressing 
terrible  wrath,  as  some  of  the  ruffians  and 
rowdies  who  insulted  her  girls  could  testify. 

"  Her  hair  was  brown  and  glossy,  her  skin 
clear,  and  all  her  features  good.  She  was, 
I  think,  of  rather  less  than  medium  height, 
and  thin,  but  not  what  one  would  call  a 
slight  frame  ;  and  she  gave  the  impression 
from  the  first  of  great  power,  —  mental, 
moral,  and  spiritual ;  but  seemed  at  that 
time  to  be  utterly  worn  and  exhausted ; 
so  much  so  in  fact,  that  she  had  been  for- 


Personal  Traits.  iig 

bidden  by  her  physician  to  talk  about  her 
work ;  yet  she  could  not  avoid  the  subject, 
for  every  one  with  whom  she  came  in  con- 
tact wanted  to  hear  of  just  that;  and  she 
found  it  quite  impossible  to  get  the  desired 
rest  for  her  weary  brain. 

"  She  was  hoping  to  gather  up  her 
strength  to  start  again,  with  new  vigor, 
to  collect  money  and  erect  the  buildings. 
This  kind  of  work  required  much  talking, 
and  answering  of  questions,  and  great  ex- 
penditure of  vitality,  in  going  from  place 
to  place,  and  from  person  to  person. 

"  Her  face  and  figure  expressed,  more 
than  any  other  that  the  writer  ever  saw, 
that  which  she  herself  admired,  —  '  char- 
acter,' power,  individuality.  There  was  a 
sense  of  her  being  thoroughly  alive  ;  not 
restless,  but  fully  and  keenly  alive.  It  dis- 
tinguished her  even  at  this  time  when  she 
was  so  worn  with  her  labors  that  she  was 
prostrated  in  health. 

"  I  very  soon  observed  Miss  Miner's 
great  love  of  flowers  and  children,  and  her 


I20  Memoir  of  Myrtilla  Miner. 

uncommon  ability  to  charm  and  interest 
children,  her  exquisite  tact  —  which  is  an- 
other name  for  sympathy  —  in  dealing  with 
them.  All  children  seemed  instinctively  to 
love  her. 

"  It  was  a  part  of  her  daily,  self-appointed 
task,  while  at  the  home  of  our  friend,  to 
gather  and  arrange  the  flowers  in  the 
vases,  for  our  hostess  had  a  lovely  garden 
and  flower-beds.  Every  morning  while 
engaged  in  this  occupation  I  watched  and 
followed  her  closely  to  catch  any  word 
that  she  might  drop,  so  fascinated  was  I 
by  her  exquisite  and  delicate  personality 
and  ways,  united  with  such  a  strong  char- 
acter as  hers  seemed  to  me.  Indeed,  I 
now  suspect  that  I  must  have  almost  shad- 
owed her  footsteps.  I  remember,  however, 
that  she  seemed  to  enjoy  my  companion- 
ship and  my  interest  in  her  work. 

"Some  weeks  later  she  came  to  my 
home  in  Boston,  much  refreshed  from  her 
stay  in  Providence,  and  together  we  went 
to  see  persons  from  whom  she  hoped   to 


Per  social  Traits.  121 

get  contributions  for  the  school.  Her 
health  was  not,  however,  for  some  time 
sufficiently  established  to  resume  her  la- 
bors in  the  school,  and  a  part  of  the 
autumn  of  1855  ^nd  of  the  winter  of  1856 
were  spent  at  the  Elmira  Water  Cure  with 
her  dear  and  valued  friends  Doctors  S.  O. 
and  R.  B.  Gleason,  who  took  the  deepest  in- 
terest in  her,  and  were  ever  after  among 
her  most  helpful  and  sympathizing  friends." 
In  October,  1861,  she  went  to  California, 
mainly  for  her  health,  but  hoping  and  in- 
tending to  collect  funds  for  the  school. 
She  supported  herself  while  there  as  a 
clairvoyant  and  magnetic  healer,  for  which 
vocations  she  seems  to  have  had  a  consid- 
erable gift,  recently  developed.  At  first 
she  resided  in  San  Francisco,  and  after- 
wards she  made  extensive  journeys  over 
the  State,  and  enjoyed  its  splendid  scenery, 
which  to  her  was  a  constant  delight.  Writ- 
ing to  the  friend  last  quoted,  from  Taylors- 
ville,  Plumas  County,  California,  under  date 
of  December  16,  1863,  she  says:    "I  have 


122         Memoir  of  Myrtilla  Miner. 

left  my  very  pleasant,  sunny  rooms  at  San 
Francisco  for   the   mountains    again,  and 
am  nestled  in  a  lovely  valley  surrounded 
by  hills,  which   hills,   with    their  ravines, 
stretch  off  into  vast  mountains  overtopped 
by  everlasting  snows.     I  am  doubtless  two 
hundred  or  three  hundred  miles  northeast 
from  San  Francisco,  with  mountains  inter- 
vening which  will  not  let  me  out  before 
next  June,  except  by  saddle  or  dog  train. 
.  .  .  One  thing  is  certain,  that  I  am  carried 
about   this   country  to  see   and  enjoy  its 
magnificent  scenery  in  a  most  remarkable 
manner,  without  any  care  or  expense,  save 
my  time  and  talents,  which  pay  for  all.    In 
coming  here  to  this  valley  we  came  from 
San   Francisco  to   Sacramento  by  steam- 
boat, thence  to  Marysville  by  stage  (the 
water  being  too  low  to  risk  the  boat  lest 
we  get  aground  and  suffer  delay),  then  a 
long  day's  ride  over  eighty  miles  of  rough 
road,  in  a  Concord  wagon,  —  from  four  a.  m. 
to  ten  p.  M.,  —  then  up  next  morning  at  five 
to  ride  ten  miles  on  mule-back  to  break- 


Personal  Traits.  12^ 

fast,  then  twenty  miles  more  the  same  day 
over  the  most  fearful  heights  of  the  Sierra 
Nevadas.  I  had  no  idea  of  coming  the 
way  we  did,  and  had  I  had  the  slightest 
conception  of  the  danger  should  not  have 
consented.  But  I  had  the  joy  of  finding 
my  little  mule  sure-footed  over  the  snowy, 
rocky  trail,  so  frightful  that  not  a  man  of 
all  the  seven  in  our  company  dared  ride 
down  it ;  but  I  kept  my  seat,  and  got  safe 
through.  Some  of  the  way  the  snow  was 
four  feet  deep  over  the  trail,  and  each 
mule  set  his  feet  exactly  in  the  steps  of 
his  predecessor;  yet  down  some  of  the 
steeps  it  was  very  slippery,  and  my  poor 
mule  slipped  his  hind  feet  entirely  under 
him,  and  slid  thus  some  yards,  but  finally 
raised  himself,  very  easy,  without  dismount- 
ing me.  This  was  while  we  were  passing 
at  the  foot  of  Pilot  Peak,  one  of  the  high- 
est peaks  of  all  the  Sierras.  Then  we  were 
on  rocky,  narrow,  stair-like  steeps,  where 
the  least  false  step  of  the  mule  would  have 
thrown  us  into  interminable  depths.     We 


124         Memoir  of  Myrtilla  Miner. 

passed  over  three  of  these  immense  heights, 
one  of  which  took  us  down  a  continuous, 
very  steep,  zigzag  trail  of  four  miles,  down, 
down,  fearfully  down,   to   the   river,  over 
rocks  and  rough  foot-bridges,  —  no  wagon 
road, — and  then  again  up,  up  the  moun- 
tain sides  beyond,  till  I  was  all  chafed  and 
mauled  and  pummeled,  so  that  I  could  not 
move  without  groaning  for  pain  for  many 
days  and  nights,  but  was  glad  all  the  time." 
Her  experiences  in  California  were  des- 
tined  to  have   a   tragic    ending.     An   ac- 
cident which  finally  resulted  in  her  death 
is  described  by  her  in  a  letter  to  the  same 
friend,  dated  Petaluma,  California,  May  5, 
1864.     After    referring  to    some  business 
details  relating  to  the  affairs  of  the  school, 
the  letter  is  interrupted  and  begins  again 
thus  :    "  It  is  now  the  first  of  June.     Two 
days  after  the  above  was  written  I  received 
a  delightful  letter  from  Dr.  Bellows  which 
I  designed  answering  in  person  very  soon. 
The  following  morning  my  friend  planned 
an    all   day's   ride   for   us.      A   friend    of 


Close  of  a  Noble  Life.  12^ 

hers  escorted  me  in  one  carriage,  and 
she  accompanied  her  son  in  another.  My 
escort  came  with  a  fine  span  of  black 
ponies  and  light  buggy  to  match,  and  I 
entered  it  with  much  exhilaration  of  feel- 
ing, for  I  greatly  enjoy  fast  driving.  The 
horses  started  upon  the  jump,  ran,  leaped  ! 
flew  ! !  the  road  turning  two  short  corners 
and  leading  by  their  stable,  and  within 
twenty  rods  of  this  house  we  were  thrown 
thirty  feet  in  the  air,  falling  with  a  crash, 
I  alighting  on  my  right  hip  with  greatest 
force,  and  so  spraining  it  that  very  little 
motion  of  any  kind  has  since  characterized 
me.  I  was  otherwise  bruised,  but  not  muti- 
lated, fractured,  or  broken,  save  my  clothes ; 
yet  all  sinks  to  insignificance  compared 
with  this  loss  of  locomotion.  I  was  com- 
pelled to  keep  my  bed  until  I  became  very 
nervous  from  inaction,  suffering  from  con- 
gestion of  the  whole  right  side  and  fever, 
until  it  culminated  last  week  in  a  profuse 
hemorrhage  of  the  right  lung,  which  re- 
duced me  very  low.     I  am  rallying  again, 


1-26  Memoir  of  Myrtilla  Miner. 

—  slowly  moving  about,  leaning  upon  a 
cane,  and  longing  to  get  home  once  more ; 
but  this  calamity  has  nearly  obliterated  all 
my  great  health  and  vigor  which  I  had 
gathered  as  a  full  harvest  in  the  moun- 
tains, feeling  sure  the  supply  would  meet 
the  demand  of  any  labor  which  might  await 
me  on  my  return.  I  was  full  of  courage 
and  ready  for  anything,  as  agile  and  strong 
as  ever  in  my  life.  This  has  greatly 
changed  me.  My  aspect  is  that  of  a  hope- 
less consumptive,  and  my  feelings  sub- 
dued and  careless.  I  am  now  very,  very 
weak,  yet  I  hope  much  from  the  sea  voy- 
age. It  will  kill  or  cure  me  ;  I  feel  quite 
indifferent  which.  Starr  King  has  gone  — 
Owen  Lovejoy  has  gone  —  and  to-day,  I 
see  Joshua  R.  Giddings  has  gone.  We 
have  all  worked  well,  and  I  shall  find  com- 
pany with  whom  I  can  still  work  to  great 
advantage  'on  the  other  side  of  Jordan.'" 
After  a  journey  which  was  made  by 
steamer  in  those  days,  including  trans- 
shipment across  the  Isthmus  of  Panama, 


Close  of  a  Noble  Life.  i2y 

and  which  must  have  taxed  severely  the 
endurance  and  strength  of  a  person  in  her 
feeble  and  suffering  condition,  she  arrived 
in  New  York  in  August,  1864.  After 
tarrying  some  time  with  friends  in  the 
East,  with  no  permanent  improvement  in 
health,  she  came  to  Washington  in  Decem- 
ber, 1864,  to  the  house  of  Mrs.  Nancy  M. 
Johnson,  now  President  of  the  Board  of 
Trustees  of  the  Miner  School,  where  in 
ten  days  she  died.  During  these  last  ten 
days  of  her  life  it  was  the  privilege  of  the 
writer  to  spend  a  portion  of  some  of  them 
with  her,  answering  her  letters  and  listen- 
ing to  her  plans,  —  when  her  cough  would 
permit  her  to  talk,  —  for  she  at  times  felt 
that  she  might  yet  be  well  and  work  again. 
Her  faith  in  her  recovery  was  strong  al- 
most to  the  last.  She  enjoyed  communion 
with  invisible  friends,  and  was  very  happy 
in  such  communion.  But  the  end  was 
near,  and  on  the  17th  of  December,  1864, 
at  the  age  of  forty-nine,  Myrtilla  Miner 
passed  onward  to  her  reward.     Who   can 


128         Memoir  of  Myrtilla  Miner. 

doubt  that  on  that  other  shore  she  heard 
the  welcoming  voice  of  the  Master,  saying, 
Well  done,  good  and  faithful  daughter  ! 
Enter  thou  into  the  joy  of  thy  Lord  ! 

Rev.  William  Henry  Channing,  then  pas- 
tor of  the  Unitarian  Church  of  Washington, 
and  an  old  and  valued  friend,  conducted 
the  funeral  services.  After  the  services 
her  remains  were  taken  to  the  beautiful 
Oak  Hill  cemetery  in  Georgetown,  and 
placed  in  the  receiving  vault.  Falling 
snow  whitened  the  ground  and  dropped  in 
light,  feathery  flakes  upon  the  open  grave 
as  her  body  was  laid  away,  two  weeks  later, 
in  its  final  resting-place.  Miss  Howland 
tells  a  very  touching  incident  connected 
with  Miss  Miner's  burial.  Mrs.  Johnson, 
her  friend,  after  the  coffin  was  lowered, 
bent  forward  over  the  grave  and  expressed 
the  greatest  desire  to  look  once  more  upon 
the  dead  face.  One  of  the  attendants  im- 
mediately got  down  into  the  grave  and  re- 
moved the  coffin-lid,  so  that  the  face  was 
in  full  sight.     She  looked  so  natural  and 


Close  of  a  Noble  Life.  iig 

so  beautiful,  it  seemed  as  if  she  were  only 
sleeping.  The  long,  brown  curls  from  one 
side  had  fallen  partly  over  one  cheek  and 
lay  across  the  throat.  A  strange  and  lovely 
sight,  never  to  be  forgotten  by  those  who 
witnessed  it. 

Miss  Miner's  grave  at  Oak  Hill  has  not 
yet  been  marked  by  a  memorial  stone. 
The  recent  formation  of  an  Alumni  Society, 
composed  of  the  graduates  of  the  Miner 
School,  suggests  the  thought  that  the 
members  of  such  an  association  might  fitly 
take  the  matter  in  hand,  and,  with  a  small 
contribution  from  each,  do  lasting  honor 
to  themselves  by  erecting  an  appropriate 
monument  to  the  memory  of  their  bene- 
factress. 


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